In the present era, every business is moving towards digitalization, and ecommerce is revolutionizing the manner of business conduction. And, It’s not a blind move!

There is potential, and thanks to technology, we can connect like never before. Interaction with business, everything turned a lot easier and personalized. The personal touch in technology is the primary reason that we are getting more habitual with technological advancements.

But do you know how businesses understand you better than your friends? Who is educating them about your preferences and taste of products?

That’s you!

You are sharing your data, and businesses are using the same to know you better.

If you are feeling cheated, then don’t be; because they are using it all for your benefits.

But, there are two sides to the coin. With the good side comes the negative side of it. We do understand that, and obviously, none of the businesses like to risk your data.

Running an online business is tricky because you have to check with the compliance of all the tools you are using to fetch and manage the user data. As an owner of a retail store, the security of your website and the safety of each of your visitors and customer’s data is your duty. You can add safety badges and get security certifications for your website.

How GDPR came into the interface?

In addition to the online compliances from security standard organizations, Governments of different countries do have their distinct data protection policies. The underlying security standards are set similar across all the countries. Still, there can be some advanced rules and alterations that vary from country to country.

Likewise, the European government came with GDPR. The arrival of GDPR created a lot of buzz and dilemmas in the industry. GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, and that’s the law amendment by the European Government.

What is GDPR? Were there no data protection policies earlier?

Well, the arrival of a new data policy doesn’t mean that there were no policies earlier. But, these were the strict policies by GDPR.eu for the safety of all the personal data of European countries, their citizens, and businesses dealing with the European Union. This law came into enforcement on May 25, 2018.

The replacement of old data protection policies and compliance with the new ones was made compulsory. It’s not bad; rather, it’s for the benefit of customers to not risk their data to any site. Now, the data controllers of the European government have more control over the personal data of each resident of the European Union and European Economic Area (EEU).

GDPR doesn’t collect

Who does GDPR apply to?

If you are a business based out of any European countries or sell your products and services in Europe and native countries, you have to comply with the GDPR guidelines.

The below map can give you clarity about the native European countries affected by GDPR.

There are native countries that are not part of Europe, and still, they have to comply with GDPR norms. It includes the Azores, Canary Islands, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Madeira, Martinique, Mayotte, Reunion, and Saint Martin.

How does GDPR affect ecommerce business?

In comparison to other businesses, ecommerce stores use many third-party software and tools to collect user data. You have to deal with the transaction upfront, and that’s why the significance of personal data turns enormous. Now, that’s an obvious thing that you have to bear the consequences of GDPR for your ecommerce business.

If you have the business based out of any other country, you must check with the security norms adapted for the government in your countries. They may or may not be following GDPR compliance for the conduction of your business. Also, if you are selling your products only internationally, you need not worry about GDPR compliance for your store.

The GDPR norms are issued to ask for permission from the user to save their data in your records. The personal data of the user includes name, age, gender, email, date of birth, access of social media handles, IP address, bank details, or any other information that talks about the user’s identity as an individual.

We know that you grab the customer data to know them better and serve them with personalized requirements. But, you will not be able to do so for your traffic that belongs to European countries. Also, you have to check with the privacy policies of all third-party software as well as companies whose services you are using for order fulfillment with your services.

It can be challenging, but the notion behind it is not about turning the tables for business conduction. When your customers have the right to manage their personal information, they will be able to trust your business more.

And, if you fail to adhere to GDPR norms or suspected to trick the servers, you will be liable to pay a hefty fine. It can be upto €20 million or 4% of your annual turnover, provided whichever counts to highest.

Well, you better not try the other way round and try to make your policies GDPR friendly.

How can you mean the expectations of GDPR?

Since you don’t have many options, your goal is to make your store compliant with GDPR norms. When the customer data is your safety, there is nothing wrong with following the strict rules as well.

• Your first action point is to audit your site. Make a list of all the third-party services you are using for order fulfillment, payment processing, and others. Next, you will count on all the third-party tools that you will be using to streamline different business tasks like marketing, CRMs, analytical tools, and so on.

• After checking with your cookie and cache policies, you have to check with their privacy policies as well as others that seem crucial to you for your business.

• In case they haven’t updated anything about GDPR compliance in their policies, you have to take follow up and confirm whether they are offering services to European countries or not.

• If the third-party service providers aren’t complying with GDPR policies, you surely have to seek for alternative companies for that particular service.

• Unlike small and medium scale businesses, enterprise-grade businesses need to hire DPO (Data Protection Officer) for their store. DPO must be an expert in the understanding of CRM as well as data management across the data servers. The senior official will be responsible for checking compliance and whether strict adherence to policies is maintained or not. In case of any discrepancy, DPO has to notify the company and check with the available solution. The company needs to mention the details of its DPO in the privacy policy.

• For detailed information about the Data Protection Commissioner, you can go through a comprehensive guide for Organizations. You can check with the guidelines to prepare policies for your store.