December 11, 2020
Ransomware attack disrupts DSW’s inventory management
Brief:
- DSW’s e-commerce site lost access to store inventories when a software vendor suffered a ransomware attack during the last two weeks of Q3, Roger Rawlins, CEO of the retailer’s parent company Designer Brands, said on a Wednesday earnings call.
- “We effectively lost a portion of our digital sales capabilities for two weeks during our crucial September selling season,” Rawlins said. The roughly 13 million units in stores were not visible to customers on the DSW website when the vendor was forced to temporarily shut down.
- The shutdown brought DSW’s available visible assortment from 13 million units to roughly 1.3 million — disrupting the chain’s ability to balance inventory between stores and warehouses. DSW has been shipping e-commerce orders from stores throughout the pandemic.
