KPMG: Almost One in Five Shoppers Consider Data Breaches Deal Breakers

No one likes to be involved in a data breach. It takes all kinds of time to fix, and you’re always left wondering when the next shoe will drop and leave you struggling to piece together your own life.

In fact, according to a new report from KPMG, 19 percent of shoppers would actually stop shopping at a store that suffered a data breach.

That’s bad enough, but it actually gets worse. Not only would those shoppers give up on said retailer outright, but it actually doesn’t matter what that retailer does to fix things.

Essentially, almost one in five shoppers have a one-and-done response to data breaches, and anyone who’s suffered one just lost a lot of business.

The problem is actually compounded by reports that, for 33 percent of shoppers, a breach would effectively send that retailer into a quarantine lasting three months or more.

Those shoppers would be out of play for at least one quarter. Add the two together and we’re talking about 52 percent of surveyed shoppers gone.

However, those who are left are generally much more stoic; the remainder, reports note, leave shopping habits mostly untouched even after a data breach.

This is handy news for the 42 percent of businesses that noted in a separate part of the study that there’s no head of information security in their business, and that many businesses still haven’t made much in the way of capital investments to drive better security.

As for what’s driving that odd disconnect, some suggest that the lack of consumer liability—aside from the obvious hassles of dealing with a breach—may leave customers comparatively unfazed by a breach.

Others may be more fatalistic, believing that data breaches are so much a part of online shopping that there’s simply not enough choices to allow switching. It’s odd that there’s such a clear dichotomy in shoppers’ attitudes.

Even stranger is how the breaches turn off customers permanently regardless of any changes made; everyone can make a mistake now and then, so why not be willing to forgive and forget?

Regardless of the customer stance, prevention of a breach must be top of the list for every retailer. Not every breach can be prevented, but for every one that is, that’s another customer that won’t be lost, and maybe for good.