Consumer Confidential: Zappos hack, retail sales, overseas food

Here’s your hey-Mickey-you’re-so-fine Monday roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Zappos has been hacked. The online retailer and its discount affiliate, 6pm.com, say a data breach compromised customer account information such as billing addresses and the last four digits of credit card numbers. The security problem did not affect “critical credit card and other payment data,” Zappos Chief Executive Tony Hsieh wrote in an email. He explained that the company was “the victim of a cyber attack by a criminal who gained access to parts of our internal network and systems through one of our servers in Kentucky.” A company spokeswoman said Zappos was unable to comment further on the data breach. (Chicago Tribune)

--Retail sales are rising. The nation’s largest retail trade group said it expects a solid 3.4% increase in sales this year, below last year’s 4.7% increase as job woes weigh on shoppers. Sales should reach $2.53 trillion in 2012, up from last year’s $2.45 trillion, boosted in part by higher prices across all goods, according to a report from the National Retail Federation. The 3.4% bump would still outpace the 10-year annual average increase of almost 3.1% and would also mark a third consecutive year of recovery for consumer spending. Sales slumped 3.5% in 2009 with the nation deep in recession. However, sales remain well below the more robust figures of 5.5% or more that the country would typically see in better economic times. (Associated Press)

--Perhaps you were troubled to learn that fungicide had been found in orange juice. But were you equally surprised that much of our OJ comes not from California or Florida but Brazil? If so, brace yourself. Much of our food supply comes from abroad. About 16.8% of the food we eat is imported from other countries, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, up from 11.3% two decades ago. More than 40% of that is from Brazil. About half of the fresh fruit we eat comes from elsewhere. That’s more than double the amount in 1975. About 86% of the shrimp, salmon, tilapia and other fish and shellfish we eat comes from other countries. That’s up from about 56% in 1990. (Associated Press)