Dec 23 (Reuters) – In the wake of a massive data breach,
Target Corp suffered reduced customer traffic over one
of the busiest shopping weekends of the year, the Wall Street
Journal reported.
The number of transactions at Target fell 3 to 4 percent
compared with last year’s final weekend before Christmas, while,
transactions at other retailers were strong, the Journal said,
citing estimates by retail consultancy Customer Growth Partners
LLC.
Target said on Thursday that hackers had stolen data from as
many as 40 million credit and debit cards of shoppers who
visited its stores during the first three weeks of the holiday
season.
At least 2 million shoppers who used bank debit cards at
Target stores during its recent data breach are facing lower
limits on how much cash they can take out of teller machines and
spend at stores.
“This is the worst possible time something like this could
happen,” Craig Johnson, president of Customer Growth Partners
told the Journal. ()
The consultancy firm estimates that U.S. retail sales on
Saturday totaled $17 billion, exceeding those on Black Friday by
$2 billion, according to the paper.
A Target spokeswoman declined to comment to the Journal
specifically on this weekend’s results, saying the retailer
reports sales on a quarterly basis.
Target could not immediately be reached for comment by
Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.
