Poll: Massive Target data breach not keeping customers from shopping
Many Target Corp. customers are ready to move past the massive data breach.
About 85% of the retail chain’s shoppers do not plan to change their spending habits at Target in the next year even after a breach exposed up to 40 million payment card numbers, according to a Bloomberg National Poll. Only 7% plan to reduce their spending.
That’s good news for Target, which has been reeling from the intrusion that struck over the holiday season and sent revenue down 5% down in the crucial fourth quarter.
Aside from the payment card data, hackers also stole personal information such as phone numbers from up to 70 million shoppers. Earlier this month, John Mulligan, the company’s chief financial officer, was named interim CEO after Gregg Steinhafel stepped down.
But the poll suggests that Target may still be able to woo shoppers back into its stores.
About half of customers surveyed said they are somewhat or very confident that the Minneapolis company could keep their credit and debit card information safe in the future, the study said. Another 47% said they were not sure Target could keep their personal data secure.
Steinhafel’s resignation did not really affect shoppers. Nearly 85% of shoppers said getting rid of him as CEO made no difference in how much money they would drop at Target in the future. Only 8% reported they were more likely to make purchases after he stepped down.
