Tash Tesseyman, retail analyst at GlobalData, offers her view: “Cyber attacks such as that on JD Sports will only augment the existing anxiety of using the online channel, with 65.0% of UK consumers stating that they are concerned about storing payment details online, according to GlobalData’s January 2023 monthly survey. Multichannel and online pureplay retailers must invest in cybersecurity hardware and software to avoid high-profile data breaches to protect consumer confidence and avoid fines. For example, improving threat detection and response tools will be imperative for retailers to discover any abnormal or malicious activity and respond to the threat before the attacker is able to take advantage of any vulnerabilities If consumers do not trust a retailer enough to store payment details online, this will create a barrier to online shopping by decreasing convenience as this would prolong the check-out process.
“Cyber attacks are not new, but these incidents are on the rise in terms of frequency and intensity, which is impacting consumer sentiment as well as retailers’ profits. Indeed, the Retail & Wholesale sector is one of the most at risk of cyber-attacks, according to GlobalData’s Cybersecurity in Retail and Apparel 2022 report. This has been evidenced by the data breach of JD Sports announced on 30 January 2023, where a hacker had gained access to the details of 10 million JD Sports customers, for orders between November 2018 and October 2020. While JD Sport’s shares were stable after the announcement of the cyber-attack, security breaches will have an ongoing effect on consumer confidence in e-commerce, therefore retailers must adapt to the current environment by prioritising investment in cyber security.”
