Tesco online grocery woes spark checkout free store concerns
Tesco’s recent grocery app and website outage doesn’t bode well for its checkout-free store, according to data and analytics company GlobalData.
On Saturday morning, the retailer posted on Twitter: "We're experiencing an issue with our website and app and are working hard to get things back up and running. We apologise for any inconvenience."
Problems persisted throughout Saturday and into Sunday morning..
On Sunday, a spokesperson told RTIH: “An attempt was made to interfere with our systems which has caused problems with the search function on the site.”
“We’re working hard to fully restore all services and apologise for the inconvenience. There is no reason to believe that this issue impacts customer data and we continue to take ongoing action to make sure all data stays safe.”
On Monday morning, meanwhile, the spokesperson emailed us with the following: “Our teams have worked around the clock to restore service, and we’re really sorry to our customers for the inconvenience caused.”
Get to grips with cyber security
“Tesco’s app and website outage should be a warning to all retail stores to get to grips with cyber security as the industry moves towards digitalisation,” says Jemima Walker, Analyst on the Thematic Research team at GlobalData.
“The hacking attempt of the UK’s largest food and grocery retailer shows how important cyber security is to the future of retail, not just online channels, as customers access Tesco’s new checkout-free store in Holborn via a mobile app.”
The GetGo store will allow Tesco to compete with Amazon’s locations in the UK food and grocery retail market, which set to reach £196 billion by 2025, according to GlobalData forecasts.
But Walker cautions: “While retailers using checkout free technology will face disruption from cyber attacks, customer data is also at risk.”
“Therefore, retailers looking to get involved in the checkout-free race need to ensure their cyber security standards are high enough. Simply implementing the technology isn’t enough.”
