At a glance
We surveyed website users and discovered that they were concerned about the site’s security. ROCK, therefore, helped the client gain Cyber Security Essentials accreditation, resulting in a 7% increase in online sales.
The situation
A large retailer with both a brick and mortar and online presence had observed that physical sales made through stores were relatively stable, whilst their online sales had been stagnating for a period of six months.
Concerned, they contacted ROCK, initially requesting that our UX consultants review their website and identify ways of improving its performance. Initially, this team observed generic problems, but nothing that would, they believed, result in the declining performance RetailCo* had witnessed.
As a result, a survey was added to the website that would appear when visitors left without making a purchase. This asked the user a series of questions concerning both their experience in using RetailCo’s* website and why they did not opt to purchase a product. ROCK analysed responses and noted that multiple respondents stated that they had seen claims that the site in question was not secure on social media.
This led to a cyber security audit of both the client’s website and its digital infrastructure. It revealed that RetailCo’s* cyber security solutions required upgrading and modernising.
How we helped RetailCo*
- Online sales improved by 7% within just one month
- Average user time on retailer’s website grew by 323%
Recommendations
- Upgrade and update anti-virus software and firewalls as well as enhance authentication procedures and automate patching/updating.
- Pursue Cyber Security Essential certification and display the relevant icon on the client’s website once obtained.
Outcome
ROCK implemented multiple changes and, following installations and penetration testing having been conducted, we helped RetailCo* commence the process of applying for their Cyber Security Essentials accreditation.
Following the conclusion of the evaluation process, it was confirmed that RetailCo’s* application had been successful and the relevant icons were added to their website’s banner and footer images. Within just one month, the company saw online card sales through their payment system grow by 7%.
Other metrics strongly suggested that users placed more trust in RetailCo’s* website, too: the average amount of time users spent on the site increased by more than 300%, they visited six times more pages and, vitally, the bounce rate (the number of users visiting a page via a search engine and not engaging with the site) fell from 72% to 23%.
RetailCo* were so pleased with the results, that they requested ROCK's SOC team further develop the robustness of their cyber security solutions and are now pursuing prestigious ISO 27001 accreditation with the help of ROCK.
*We value our clients and their right to a confidential consultation. While the name has been altered, the results are real.
