Security and Payment Issues Faced by e-commerce Business in the Hospitality Industry

1. INTRODUCTION

In recent years, experts have expressed alarm about the rise in internet privacy violations and cyber-attacks to e-commerce systems especially in the hospitality industry. “In 2011, Trustwave SpiderLabs conducted 42 percent more data breach investigations than in the previous year. More than 85 percent of these data breaches occurred in the food and beverage, retail and hospitality industries.” (Savitz & Percoco, 2012). It seems logical that any business would understand that building a secure business is important to long term success. (Vacca, 2012).
E-commerce as a catalyst has led to the diversification and availability of various electronic means of payment. It is therefore necessary, that an emerging e-commerce business, keeps with the trend of convenience by making available different payment options. The growth in e-commerce and sophistication of web solutions over the past few years has led to an increase in online reservations made through hotel websites. These hotels do not only use the internet to facilitate guest booking, but also to engage customers in loyalty programs. With all the promise that lies ahead, international hotel groups need to ensure that they are taking steps to secure these new payment channels. (Ilori, Payment Security: Security Options, 2013).
Using the internet to relate with and engage customers in loyalty programs is a subset of social commerce. “In this new way of commerce mediated by social media both firms and consumers benefit. Consumers make informed decisions based on information not only from firms but also from other consumers.” (Shadkam & O’Hara, 2013)
This paper explores security and payment issues faced by e-commerce businesses in the hospitality industry. It uses ...

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