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Indigo at risk of reputational damage as website outage drags on, experts say

Indigo Books & Music Inc. says customer credit and debit information was not compromised by a recent cybersecurity incident that has downed its website for almost a week. An Indigo bookstore sign is illuminated on a store front Tuesday March 30, 2021 in Ottawa. Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press

Retail experts say the risks of reputational damage are growing for Indigo Books & Music Inc. as its website remains off-line more than a week after a cyberattack.

Retail expert Lisa Hutcheson says the company looks to have navigated the incident reasonably well so far by being transparent and keeping customers informed.

The company has issued several updates about the outage, which took its website off-line and disrupted in-store payments, including a notice Tuesday that customer credit and debit card information was not compromised.

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Hutcheson says however that at some point frustration will overtake customer patience and they will look elsewhere to shop.

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Retail analyst and author Bruce Winder says customers are understanding as the number of cybersecurity incidents increase, but it only goes so far.

He says if the outage drags on much longer it risks serious reputational damage as customers wonder about company competency.

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