Ecommerce sites handle payment data and are more actively targeted than typical informational websites, which raises both the stakes and the compliance requirements.
Ecommerce-specific priorities
- PCI DSS compliance: required if you handle card data directly, even indirectly through a hosted checkout in many cases
- Uptime and performance: downtime directly and immediately translates to lost sales, more so than for a typical content site
- Bot/fraud protection: card testing and inventory-hoarding bots specifically target checkout flows
- Session and cart security: proper handling of session tokens and cart data to prevent hijacking
Practical priorities
- Use a PCI-compliant payment processor and avoid storing raw card data on your own servers wherever possible
- Monitor uptime and performance more aggressively than a typical informational site would need
- Apply rate limiting specifically to checkout and login endpoints, common bot/fraud targets
FAQ
Does using a third-party checkout (like Stripe Checkout) reduce my PCI obligations?
Generally yes, substantially — hosted checkout solutions typically shift most PCI scope to the processor, though some baseline obligations (like keeping your own site secure) still apply to you.