This year’s kickoff to the holiday shopping season with Black Friday (and Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday) was different from Black Fridays in years past. With COVID-19 preventing many would-be shoppers from making the trip to brick-and-mortar locations, digital retailers are hoping that online shopping will make up the gap this holiday season.
But there’s a different market springing up alongside authentic holiday shopping: cybercriminals and bad actors looking to take advantage of both consumers’ and retailers’ investments in holiday campaigns. And this year, fraudsters will capitalize on switching-to-online shoppers who may be unfamiliar with cybersecurity best practices. Those shoppers might reuse simple passwords from one site to the next, be quick to click on links in phishing emails, and be more tempted to download apps that give fraudsters access to their data. Armed with easy access to a bustling dark market of stolen user credentials and data, fraudsters can make a payday of the holiday season, and it’s real consumers and retailers who may be left holding the bag.
Deloitte projected that online holiday spending could jump as much as 25-35% this year. With a new population of inexperienced online shoppers, every dollar spent on Black Friday and holiday shopping marketing will need to work twice as hard to make the season successful for retailers. The margin for error is minuscule.
Sophisticated bots—the preferred automation tool of cybercriminals and bad actors—have posed a threat to retailers’ efforts for some time, but with such a hyper-competitive atmosphere this year, those bots can wreak even more havoc than usual. Here are five ways that sophisticated bots can turn your 2020 Black Friday and holiday marketing into a #BotFriday holiday disaster:
In June of this year, retail websites generated almost 22 billion visits. With this year’s Black Friday and holiday shopping season, and with so much uncertainty around how shoppers will respond, there’s a huge opportunity for sophisticated bots to swoop in and turn your holiday season plans into a lump of coal. Check out our report on the specific fraud threats posed to retail and e-commerce brands this year.