Every retailer knows that taking precautions against Black Friday crises is crucial—after all, 66% of consumers are expected to make purchases, with revenues in Brazilian e-commerce reaching R$9.3 billion, according to reports by Opinion Box, Wake, and Neotrust, respectively. But one factor that should alert business owners is the impact of potential blackouts, like the one that occurred in São Paulo in October.
There were 72 hours of power outages in the city of São Paulo and its metropolitan region, affecting everyone from residents to businesses. In a business context, this situation leaves companies vulnerable to attacks and fraud, losing sales revenue, and, most importantly, being unable to communicate with customers. If this crisis had occurred during Black Friday, the potential for business losses would have been significant.
"Unfortunately, natural disasters are becoming more frequent, whether minor, like blackouts, or more serious, like floods. It's essential that companies have contingency strategies in place to avoid these negative effects, especially around important business dates," reinforces Eduardo Daghum, CEO and founder of Horus Group , a leader in security and fraud prevention services.
He explains that ideally, operational centers should be located more than 100 km apart to avoid relying on just one, which may be in a crisis-hit region. "Decentralizing the location of our operations, for example, has been one of our strategies to avoid greater losses. It's not just a recommendation, but a necessity to ensure service continuity even in times of crisis, not leaving partners and customers in the lurch."
Therefore, companies that fail to focus on organizing their modus operandi in the event of crises caused by climate change may suffer significant financial losses and jeopardize what matters most: a positive customer experience. Fraud is common in times of vulnerability and affects websites, e-commerce sites, and various systems, including credit card scams, account takeovers, and chargebacks (a procedure used when the cardholder disputes a transaction directly with the card issuer).
Prevention and investment in skilled teams and technological resources should be a priority for both B2B and B2C businesses. "A good anti-fraud strategy in times of crisis relies on a strong team of analysts who, with a human perspective and technological tools, can monitor, predict, and respond to attacks," adds the CEO of Horus Group.
