Neiman Marcus Reveals Data Breach, Notifies Nearly 5M Customers

Neiman Marcus Group said on Thursday it had notified about 4.6 million online customers that their personal information, including names, contact information and credit card numbers, may have been accessed in a data hack. The high-end department store chain said it notified law enforcement authorities about the data breach, which it said happened in May 2020. About 3.1 million payment and virtual gift cards were affected, more than 85 percent of which were expired or invalid, Neiman Marcus said.

Total Retail's Take: Having emerged from bankruptcy protection in September 2020, the last thing Neiman Marcus needed was an incident to further shake consumer confidence in the retail chain. Yet that's exactly what has happened with the revelation that the retailer suffered a data breach in May 2020. In addition to the short-term impact that a data breach can have on a retailer's bottom line, including legal costs and lost revenues, it's the long-term effect that such an event has on brand reputation and consumer trust that has a lasting impact. Already facing the challenge of winning back old customers and acquiring new ones post-bankruptcy, not to mention the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has had on physical retailers such as Neiman Marcus, one has to wonder what long-term impact this data breach will have on the retail chain's future prospects.