What did we do before we became so reliant on technology? Because it seems we can’t even do something as simple as grocery shopping and couponing without it.
A week and a half after its website and app went down – an alarmingly long time for a major business – the grocery chain Hannaford is back online. But some of its corporate cousins are still experiencing issues in-store, and we still don’t know how it all happened – and whether customers’ information could be at risk.
Ahold Delhaize, the owner of the East Coast grocers Hannaford, Stop & Shop, Food Lion and Giant, hasn’t commented publicly since it issued a statement ten days ago. “Ahold Delhaize USA recently detected a cybersecurity issue within its U.S. network,” that statement read. “Immediately upon detecting the issue, our security teams began an investigation with the assistance of external cybersecurity experts. We also notified law enforcement.”
It went on to say that “some systems” would be taken offline “to help protect them.” Among those “systems” appeared to be those that helped some stores keep their shelves stocked, and Hannaford’s entire online presence.
No Hannaford website or app meant no placing pickup or delivery orders, no online circular – and no ability to clip digital coupons.
On Sunday, Hannaford’s digital platforms came back to life. A notice on its website said “Hannaford.com and our app are online! Hannaford To Go pickup and delivery orders may be placed as slots become available. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your continued understanding.”
With the lengthy loss of its digital presence, Hannaford suffered perhaps the most visible problems. But it was not alone. Numerous Stop & Shop customers have reported seeing empty shelves, particularly those carrying perishables like meat and produce, with signs saying “due to IT system outages that are affecting some of our behind-the-scenes applications, product deliveries may be slightly delayed.” And some Food Lion employees wrote online about having difficulties with in-store accounting systems and having their paychecks direct deposited.
As Ahold Delhaize investigates what went wrong, it has not directly addressed concerns about whether any sensitive customer or employee information may have been compromised. And it has not responded to shoppers who’ve asked about make-goods for the savings they’ve missed.
After all, there was a workaround for accessing Hannaford’s weekly ad, which could be found elsewhere online or in stores. Shoppers who couldn’t place online orders could either shop in store, or order from somewhere else. But the only workaround for the lack of access to digital coupons was to redeem those you’d already clipped, use paper coupons – or pay full price.
Surely that’s not what digital coupon proponents mean when they say digital coupons are so much more convenient and reliable?
“I hate that I lost about 12 coupons in the last couple of days, including one that was $20 off,” one shopper wrote on Hannaford’s Facebook page. “I couldn’t remember the date or the coupons that I saved and lost them. Hannaford should have at least extended the expiration dates a week.” Another lamented that her personalized coupons “are typically issued in the beginning of the month, and expire halfway through. This outage has been practically that full duration. I look forward to using those and missed out on them because of this.” Others suggested some bonus savings as compensation. “I hope we get a couple of good coupons for all this trouble,” one shopper wrote, “maybe some free items or $$$ off our bill.”
Other than the new notice on Hannaford’s website, a ten-day-old Facebook post and Ahold Delhaize’s original statement, little else has been shared publicly about the cybersecurity issue. “As much as I understand the difficulty of getting your technical difficulties resolved I have to say you’ve done an incredibly poor job in communicating,” one Hannaford shopper complained. “I’m kind of annoyed by it,” another added. “Hannaford had a 4 billion dollar profit last year and renovated a bunch of stores, but no safety features against cyber attacks?”
With many systems coming back online, stores promising that deliveries will soon be back to normal, and Hannaford’s digital platforms up and running again, it appears the worst may be over. But as shoppers wait for word on whether their personal data or payment methods have been compromised – they can only hope that the worst is not yet to come.
Image source: Mockuper
