Discount Under The Breech Tree
Seeking Alpha Analyst Since 2007
The travails of Target - TGT - in recent weeks underline a serious threat to Retail Cyber Security.When customers swipe their credit cards an unspoken trust is registered with that merchant that the transaction will proceed on a safe journey.No shadowy figures will be waiting to pounce on unsuspecting civilians and be able to ring up fraudulent charges on the victim's card.That trust should never be broken under any circumstance or customers will leave in droves hurting the company's bottom line.This weekend Target announced a ten percent discount on all purchases excluding electronics and gift cards.Hearing this I headed to Target to finish some last minute shopping.At the entrance I was greeted by a woman informing me of the discount.In the back of my mind I made a note not to use any credit card.Since my wife had a gift card we were good to go.The store in East Windsor,New Jersey was full but not packed like it should have been three days before Christmas.I was not affected by the previous credit card breach so shopping was normal not with an angry tone.Most shoppers I observed also were quite normal in their behavior.The real question will be how much of an long-term impact this breach of trust will have on consumers.The majority of shoppers will forget this incident rather quickly as most are loyal to Target and won't go to other department stores.A small group will hold a grudge longer and gravitate to Macy's - M - or Kohl 's - KSS -.A rogue group of criminals can really do damage to the retail sector of the economy.Now is the time to replace old magnetic stripe technology with a computer chip update.In Europe 94 % use this new technology,77% in Canada and Latin America,in the USA only 10%.This new computer chip will greatly reduce the dangers of cyber crime. The time is now to make this improvement for customer safety.Retail stores do not want shoppers to see red.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.
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