What Are Bot Attacks?
Bot attacks are automated programs that interact with your store without human involvement. While some bots are beneficial (like search engine crawlers), malicious bots can cause serious damage to your business.
Types of Malicious Bots
Content Scraping Bots
These bots systematically download your entire product catalog - images, descriptions, pricing, and reviews. Competitors use this data to:
- Create clone stores
- Undercut your pricing
- Steal your product research
- Copy your SEO-optimized content
Price Monitoring Bots
Competitors deploy bots to track your prices in real-time, automatically adjusting their own prices to always undercut you. This creates a race to the bottom that destroys margins.
Inventory Hoarding Bots
During limited releases or sales, bots add items to carts faster than humans can click. This locks up inventory, preventing real customers from purchasing. The bot operators then either:
- Complete purchases for resale
- Abandon carts after the sale ends, leaving you with missed revenue
Credential Stuffing Bots
Using lists of stolen usernames and passwords, these bots attempt to access customer accounts. If customers reuse passwords, bots can:
- Access stored payment methods
- Steal loyalty points
- Make unauthorized purchases
- Harvest personal data
Checkout Abuse Bots
These bots exploit:
- Promotional codes (testing thousands of combinations)
- Referral programs (creating fake referrals)
- New customer discounts (endless “new” accounts)
- Flash sale pricing (buying entire inventory)
Warning Signs of Bot Activity
- Traffic spikes without corresponding sales or engagement
- Unusual access patterns - Rapid page views, systematic crawling
- Failed login attempts - Mass attempts on customer accounts
- Promotional abuse - Same codes used repeatedly
- Inventory issues - Products in carts but not converting
- Server performance - Slowdowns during non-peak hours
The Business Impact
Lost Revenue
- Real customers can’t buy during inventory hoarding
- Promotional budgets exhausted by fake customers
- Pricing intelligence enables competitor undercutting
Increased Costs
- Server resources consumed by bot traffic
- Staff time investigating fraud
- Higher payment processing fees from fraud attempts
Customer Experience
- Slow site performance during bot attacks
- Frustrated customers who can’t complete purchases
- Account security concerns
Competitive Disadvantage
- Your pricing strategy becomes transparent
- Product innovations are immediately copied
- Marketing spend becomes less effective
How SecurEcommerce Helps
IP-Based Blocking
Block known bad actors by:
- Individual IP addresses
- IP ranges (CIDR blocks)
- Entire ISPs known for bot hosting
- Data center IPs (non-residential traffic)
Geographic Restrictions
If bot attacks come from specific regions where you don’t have customers, block those countries or regions entirely.
VPN/Proxy Detection
Most sophisticated bots use VPNs or proxies to rotate IPs. Our detection identifies these connections and lets you block or flag them.
Rate Pattern Analysis
While we don’t provide real-time rate limiting (Shopify handles that), our blocking tools let you respond to patterns you identify in your analytics.
Defensive Strategies
Layer Your Protection
No single solution stops all bots. Combine:
- IP-based blocking for known bad actors
- VPN blocking for anonymized threats
- Geographic restrictions for irrelevant regions
- Shopify’s built-in bot protection
Monitor and Adapt
Bot operators constantly change tactics. Regular review of:
- Traffic patterns
- Failed orders
- Promotional usage
- Account creation rates
Protect High-Value Targets
Focus protection on:
- Limited release products
- Deep discount promotions
- New product launches
- Customer account areas
The Ongoing Battle
Bot attacks are an arms race. As you implement defenses, attackers adapt. SecurEcommerce provides the tools to respond quickly:
- Block newly identified threats immediately
- Adjust geographic restrictions as patterns emerge
- Stay ahead with regularly updated detection
The goal isn’t to stop every bot - that’s impossible. It’s to make your store a harder target than competitors, encouraging attackers to move elsewhere.