Another #MeToo Story in Retail Loss Prevention

Editor's Note: Following our article published earlier this week about sexual harassment in the LP workplace by senior retail executive Joan Manson, a few readers emailed us thanking us for giving this important subject a platform. One female LP executive, who will remain anonymous, wanted to share her own story, which we are publishing today below.

Understanding current events and the need for every industry to address this issue and allow those impacted to be heard and begin the healing process, we at the Daily offer this column and guarantee anonymity. If you would like to submit your own story or thoughts on the subject, feel free to email us.

My Sexual Harassment Experience In LP

I was very touched by your inclusion of the #MeToo movement in your Daily. I love the loss prevention industry and have worked for various retailers over the past ten years and have only had one inappropriate interaction in that time, which is one too many. I would like to share my story with you.

I was working as a Senior Fraud Specialist for a retailer. My team was working a very high profile case involving multiple store managers conducting fake refunds for cash at our flagship store. Due to the high case value of more than $800K and members of store management conducting the fraud, a lot of pressure was put on us to put a strong case together for investigators to take to the interviews and share with Law Enforcement. As a result, I was working around the clock to catalogue all the evidence for them and required a lot of extra time working out of office hours on the weekends.

As we got closer to having this completed and going to a city on the East Coast, my boss was contacting me more frequently for updates, which wasn't anything out of the ordinary. These frequent contacts for updates became more invasive, however, on a weekend that my mother was visiting, and he started texting me while we were out spending time together to chat. In addition, he asked me to meet him at a bar that weekend to give him an update.

Read the rest of the story here.

TIC Group in a Strategic Partnership with ALL-TAG Corporation Announces the Expansion of Customized EAS Tag Recirculation Program to the Retailer Tesco
TIC Group, located in Melbourne Australia, in a strategic partnership with ALL-TAG Corporation announces the addition of Tesco to its list of retailers benefitting from their EAS Tag Recirculation Program that allows the retailers to source tag their apparel at the apparel vendor's location rather than at their stores or distribution centers. Tesco joins TIC's ever-growing list to include companies such as Kohl's.

Reusable EAS tags are shipped to apparel manufacturers anywhere in the world. The apparel manufacturers affix the EAS tags to garments before they are shipped to retail stores. The EAS Tags are removed in the retail stores at the point-of-sale, and they are collected and recovered by TIC Group and ALL-Tag. The EAS Tags are then sent to our processing center where they are inspected, repackaged and recirculated back to the apparel manufacturers for another source tagging Recirculation. prweb.com

AI on Video & POS Uncovers 50X Revenue Multiplier - NRF Big Show Booth 1462
The real goal of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in retailing is to uncover hidden gems of revenue multiplication in the data that retailers already possess. The largest treasure trove of such data is a retailer's video footage, and the second largest source is its POS data. As it turns out, marrying the two data sources has uncovered a potential 20X to 50X revenue multiplier.

When AI analyzes both the POS data and its corresponding security video, it becomes apparent that not all merchandise that goes through the checkout gets rung up. And with retailers' razor thin net profit margins of 2% to 5%, every 1 scan-avoided item requires selling 20 to 50 more of the same item to make up for the loss. Therefore, every $1 of prevented scan-avoidance equates to a revenue increase of $20 to $50 - quite a significant multiplier. Read more in today's Vendor Spotlight column below.

San Francisco boutique owner brings criminologist background to retailing
Small to mid-volume independent retailers can be more vulnerable to thieves than larger chains that often have more resources to combat theft, though Chelsea Moylan says there are tactics that smaller retailers can adopt to better protect themselves and their hard-earned dollars.

Moylan, who has a Master in Criminology, owns and operates specialty store Anomie in San Francisco. By training herself and her staff to be observant and attuned to their surroundings at all times, Moylan loses as little as $400 a year to shrink - even though Anomie sells independent designer clothing brands averaging $150 to $180, along with fine jewelry, home goods, beauty products and accessories in the $400 price range.

As a student of criminal behavior, Moylan makes it a priority for store employees to get to know customers very well and notice when shoppers linger at a display or enter the dressing room with multiple items, seem to be watching store associates a little too carefully or behaving in an overly friendly way. stores.org

Eddie Bauer Workers Win Cert. In Bag Check Class Action
Nearly 1,100 Eddie Bauer retail workers in California won certification Wednesday in a class action alleging they weren't paid for time spent undergoing security checks before leaving the store.

U.S. District Judge Beth Labson Freeman certified four causes of action brought by plaintiff Stephanie Heredia, including allegations that hourly workers at Eddie Bauer weren't paid minimum wages and overtime under California labor law for off-the-clock "exit inspections." The judge also certified claims for improper wage statements and violation of the California Unfair Competition Law. law360.com

Walmart abruptly closing 63 Sam's Club stores - laying off thousands of workers
10 stores will become E-Commerce Distribution Centers
Walmart is closing 63 Sam's Club stores across the US, the company told Business Insider on Thursday afternoon, after reports of abrupt store closings began to emerge.

Sam's Club has not said how many employees are losing their jobs. Each Sam's Club warehouse employs about 175 people, meaning more than 11,000 people could be impacted.

In some cases, employees were not told their store had closed before showing up to work on Thursday. Those employees learned their store would be closing when they found the store's doors locked and a notice announcing the closing, Sam's Club workers told Business Insider. At some stores, employees were turned away by police officers.

Ten of the affected stores will be turned into e-commerce distribution centers, and employees of those stores will have the opportunity to reapply for positions at those locations, a Walmart official said.

The remaining stores will stay open for several weeks before closing permanently. All of the affected stores were scrubbed from the Sam's Club website on Thursday morning. businessinsider.com

BJ's to laid-off Sam's Club employees: We're hiring
The warehouse retailer issued the statement in response to news that the Walmart-owned Samla's Club is shutting down stores. Walmart is closing 63 locations throughout the country, leaving those workers without jobs.

"[We've] had numerous inquiries from Sam's Club employees," BJ's said in a statement. "BJ's Wholesale Club is hiring, and anyone interested in joining our team can go to bjs.com/careers or visit their local club."

BJ's, a membership chain like Sam's Club and Costco, also said that it has "had an immediate increase in Sam's Club members joining BJ's Wholesale Club." BJ's operates 180 stores in in 15 states. cnn.com

Amazon May Have Dropped a Clue About a Likely HQ2 Location
Amazon is seeking up to 1 million square feet in Boston
Amazon announced in September that it was searching North America for a site for a second major headquarters, dubbed HQ2, in addition to its massive Seattle base. But the e-commerce giant may have given a clue about a region it likes in recently uncovered plans to expand in one city.

Amazon is in talks to lease 500,000 square feet of offices in Boston's Fort Point Channel neighborhood, a hot destination for tech companies, with an option to double the amount of space also being discussed, the Boston Globe reported on Thursday. The search started before Amazon publicly disclosed its HQ2 search, the paper said.

That sounds a lot like the first stage of the plan Amazon laid out for HQ2. Though the second headquarters is ultimately projected to house 50,000 workers in a $5 billion, 8-million square foot campus by 2027, Amazon said the first phase of the project would be to open about 500,000 square feet of space in 2019 in the new city. fortune.com

Gov. Chris Christie cements $5B tax subsidy to lure Amazon to N.J.
Gov. Chris Christie will end his second term in office with a Hail Mary pass, signing off on a long-shot offer of $5 billion in tax breaks to lure the online retail giant Amazon to Newark. The $5 billion proposed subsidy, while meaningless unless Amazon chooses New Jersey for its second headquarters, would become the state's largest ever incentive if it does. nj.com

Holiday retail sales increased 5.5% in 2017
Exceeding NRF forecast and showing strongest gain since Great Recession
Holiday sales during November and December increased 5.5 percent over the same period in 2016 to $691.9 billion as growing wages, stronger employment and higher confidence led consumers to spend more than had been expected, the National Retail Federation said today. The number, which excludes restaurants, automobile dealers and gasoline stations, includes $138.4 billion in online and other non-store sales, which were up 11.5 percent over the year before.

The results exceeded NRF's forecast of between $678.75 billion and $682 billion, which would have been an increase of between 3.6 and 4 percent, and marked the largest increase since the 5.2 percent year-over-year gain seen in 2010 after the end of the Great Recession. NRF had forecast that non-store sales, which include online sales, would grow between 11 and 15 percent to between $137.7 billion and $142.6 billion.

December alone was up 0.4 percent seasonally adjusted from November and up 4.6 percent unadjusted year-over-year. nrf.com

NRF Big Show: Upbeat Mood to Upstage the Usual Angst
With the economic wind at their backs, merchants and store operators as well as those consultants, analysts, suppliers and others who feed off the retail industry - at least 35,000 in all - will descend on the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in NYC beginning Sunday for the annual National Retail Federation convention.

It's called "The Big Show" and it's the largest retail industry gathering of the year, drawing an international crowd. This time around, the convention will have a markedly different tone from those of recent years when store closings, bankruptcies and the threat of e-commerce to bricks-and-mortar players dominated the conversation and brought down the mood. This year the main topics will be how to sustain the sales gains most retailers have experienced since last November; the revised tax code and the benefits it brings, and how to innovate and embrace emerging technologies and alter the retail experience to catch up to fast-changing consumer shopping trends.

"There's a lot of momentum coming off the holiday season with its 'hockey stick' conclusion to the year in terms of sales and with the strengthening consumer economy and tax reform which will provide more money for spending and will reduce the corporate tax burden," said Matthew Shay, president and chief executive officer of the National Retail Federation on Tuesday. wwd.com

Director of AP job for Fresh Thyme Farmers Market - based in Downers Grove, IL
The Asset Protection Director is responsible for partnering with Operations to protect the company assets and minimize any potential losses. The position will also develop and implement security and safety programs for the company.

Fresh Thyme Farmers Markets is a full-service specialty retailer focusing on fresh, healthy, natural and organic offerings, all at amazing values. Fresh Thyme opened its first store in Mount Prospect, Ill. in 2014 and plans to have about 60 stores operating by 2019. freshthyme.icims.com

Women's fashion retailer A'gaci files for bankruptcy

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AI on Video & POS Uncovers 50X Revenue Multiplier

Visit StopLift at Booth 1462 at the NRF Big Show

The real goal of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in retailing is to uncover hidden gems of revenue multiplication in the data that retailers already possess. The largest treasure trove of such data is a retailer's video footage, and the second largest source is its POS data. As it turns out, marrying the two data sources has uncovered a potential 20X to 50X revenue multiplier.

Artificial Intelligence technology, patented by StopLift Checkout Vision Systems, analyzes and compares security video and POS data to determine what occurs during each transaction at the retail or supermarket checkout and immediately distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent behavior. Its Scan-It-All artificial intelligence system has already confirmed more than 2.5 million scan avoidance incidents at both manned and self-checkouts around the world.

As soon as a scan avoidance incident occurs, StopLift (which constantly monitors 100% of the security video) flags the transaction as suspicious. It quickly reports the incident, identifying the cashier or customer and the date and time of the theft. This includes incidents due to either mistakes or deliberate actions by the cashier or the customer at self-checkout, including items left in the shopping cart or reusable bag.

Incidents often include "sweethearting", when cashiers pretend to scan merchandise but deliberately bypass the scanner, thus not charging the customer for the merchandise. The customer is often a friend, family member or fellow employee working in tandem with the cashier.

Malay Kundu, Founder and CEO of StopLift, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, explains that by flagging the unscanned items at the checkout, his AI technology enables supermarkets and retailers to identify the perpetrators of scan avoidance and serves as a deterrent to future incidents.

By installing StopLift's AI at the checkout, retailers can prevent front-end shrink, boost their profits significantly, and effectively create a 20X to 50X revenue multiplier.

Learn more about about Stoplift's patented Artificial Intelligence technology

Saks president on artificial intelligence:
"We don't need A.I. in our stores. We have I"
Saks Fifth Avenue isn't intimidated by the emergence of artificial intelligence and consumer preferences shifting to online retail, the luxury department store's president told CNBC on Friday.

"When you think about the online versus the offline experience, we don't need AI in our stores. We have 'I,'" said Marc Metrick, president of Saks. "We have living, breathing, 4,500 style advisors in our stores."

"The focus for Saks in the luxury space is really kind of convergence between tech and this living, breathing, selling associate," Metrick said in an interview on "Squawk Box." cnbc.com

Research suggests cybersecurity skills shortage is getting worse
Each year, ESG does an annual global survey on the state of IT - the business value of IT, new IT initiatives, areas of concern, etc. This year's research is based upon a survey of 620 IT and cybersecurity professional across all industries, with respondents working in North America and Western Europe.

ESG asks respondents to identify areas in which they have a "problematic shortage" of skills on an annual basis. Once again in 2018, survey respondents say cybersecurity represents the biggest area where their organizations have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills. The #2 response was IT architecture/planning, and the #3 response was server/virtualization administration.

What's especially alarming is the steady growth we've seen over the years:

● 2014: 23% of respondents claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills
● 2015: 25% claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills
● 2016: 46% claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills
● 2017: 45% claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills
● 2018: 51% claimed their organization had a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills

Oh, and in each of those years, cybersecurity was consistently the largest problematic skills shortage area. csoonline.com

Demand for cybersecurity talent rises sharply - 3.5M Unfilled Jobs by 2021
In late 2013, Cisco reported there were a million unfilled cybersecurity positions globally. Cybersecurity Ventures expects that number will rise to 3.5 million by 2021.

Despite the severe workforce shortage, there was quite a bit of optimism on the topic at the recent WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Executive Forum held in New York City. A few of the WSJ speakers agreed to offer some of their thoughts for CSO readers. csoonline.com

Cloud Workloads at Risk From Security Failings
Research from WinMagic has found that security, management and compliance challenges are impacting the benefits businesses are receiving from using the cloud as their infrastructures become more complex.

Thirty-nine percent reported their infrastructure was more complex since using the cloud, and 53% spend more time on management tasks than they have done previously.

Ninety-eight percent of the 1,029 IT decision maker respondents reported using the cloud, with an average 50% of their infrastructure up in the sky. More than one third of respondents reported that data is only partially encrypted in the cloud, and 39% admitted to not having unbroken security audit trails across virtual machines in the cloud, leaving them exposed.

Asked about their top three concerns on future workloads in the cloud, 58% reported security as their top concern, followed by protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access (55%) and the increased complexity of infrastructure (44%). On average, companies had to use three encryption solutions to protect data across the cloud and on-premises infrastructure, illustrating one of the main ways this complexity emerges. securitymagazine.com

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Unauthorized Ads Problem for Online Retailers
Tumi.com's conversion rate increases after blocking unwanted ads
Luggage retailer Tumi is getting a bump in sales from solving a problem it didn't even know it had.

In September, Charlie Cole, global chief e-commerce officer at Tumi parent Samsonite International S.A. and chief digital officer at Tumi, received a "cold call" email from browser security technology vendor Namogoo Technologies Ltd., about unauthorized pop-up and banner ads on Tumi.com. The pop-up ads were displaying non-Tumi luggage for sale at other retailers, Tumi products at lower prices on other retailers' websites and counterfeit Tumi products for lower prices.

Tumi did not know this was happening, Cole says, and about 12%-13% of traffic to Tumi.com saw these unauthorized ads.

The ads are a problem for online retailers because shoppers may click on them and the retailer loses the traffic and potential sale. The ads especially frightened Tumi because they advertised its products for a lower price, Cole says.

Once Namogoo identified the pop-up ads on Tumi, the retailer verified the problem on its end. The retailer has software that can anonymously record a web browsing experience to see how shoppers navigate the site. In these sessions, Tumi could see the unauthorized ads, Cole says.

The retailer decided to test the software with an A/B test for 30 days, and the retailer placed the code on its Akamai content delivery network. Tumi found that among the 12%-13% of traffic that had an infected browser, the conversion rate increased 20% once Namogoo blocked the unauthorized ad, Cole says. After implementing the Namogoo service, Tumi.com's overall conversion rate increased 2.5%, Cole says. digitalcommerce360.com

Study: Online holiday sales exceed last year's gains
During the 2017 holiday shopping season, U.S. e-commerce sales increased 13% from the previous year. In 2016, e-commerce sales increased 10.43% from 2015, according to new analysis from NetElixir.

According to the report's search marketing trends, average order values (AOV) saw the biggest lift this year with an increase of 19.4%. Conversions increased by 15.6%, impressions increased by 12.8% and the average cost-per-click went up by 14.2%.

E-commerce sales volume also ranged by U.S. regions. The highest increase in the south with a 24.3% jump. The next highest was found in the west with a 12.7% increase. The central U.S. had a 12.2% jump, and the northeast had an 11.4% sales lift. chainstoreage.com

Amazon is seeking up to 1 million square feet in Boston

Amazon's e‑commerce market share dips in November and surges in December

Tempe, AZ: French Bulldog puppies from Arizona Mills mall; valued at $30,000
According to Tempe police, five French bulldogs were taken from Animal Kingdom at Arizona Mills on Wednesday night. The dogs are each worth $6,000. The suspects broke into the store through a back door and removed the puppies. According to Animal Kingdom, three of the five pups stolen were already sold to families and waiting to be brought home. "The fact that they were only in here for one minute...they knew exactly what they were going for," Nofer explained. "That's a very expensive breed." kgun9.com

Puyallup, WA: $1,200 Lego Heist at Puyallup Walmart
Under state law, there's a crime called "organized retail theft." That crime not only sounds worse than plain old theft, it could also result in up to three years in prison. But you have to steal more than $750 worth of merchandise to get bumped to organized retail theft status. Well, a man and a woman in Puyallup crossed that $750 threshold and then some after getting caught stealing Legos from Walmart. Tthe couple tried to steal $1,196 worth of Legos. Police said the couple tried to wheel a cart with all the Legos out of the store. The store's loss prevention officer caught up with the woman, and she was later arrested. The male suspect, who distracted the Walmart greeter while the woman wheeled the cart outside, got away. But, he left without any Legos. patch.com


Prescott Valley, AZ: Police Arrest 3 on ORC Charges; merchandise from Walmart and two Home Depot stores
Police were able to bust a group of serial shoplifters soon after being notified of a shoplifting in progress at the Walmart Supercenter in Prescott Valley on Tuesday, Jan. 10. While searching the vehicle, officers discovered new merchandise with no receipts from Walmart, the Prescott Valley Home Depot and the Cottonwood Home Depot. dcourier.com


Racine, WI: 3 Women charged in $1,000 Hobby Lobby Theft
Two of the women had been charged within the last few months of 2017 for retail theft in Waukesha and Milwaukee respectively. Amber S. Ellis, Tamyra S. Ellis, and Octaviona Johnson, walked into the Hobby Lobby, loaded two carts with merchandise and proceeded to walk out of the store. Once in the parking lot, an employee confronted them before they left, but was shoved by one of them and failed to stop them. All three are charged with felony retail theft. And Amber Ellis and Johnson are each charged with bail jumping. racinecountyeye.com

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Consistent Congratulations

Submit Your Group LP Selfie Today!

It only takes 7 seconds to make a first impression. With a job on the line, the pressure to immediately impress is even more intense. No wonder everyone can get frustrated.

The good news is that no matter what goes wrong -- you go to the wrong building, you spill water, you mispronounce the company name -- it's all about how you recover. The first rule is -- relax, take a deep breath and make a joke about it. Humility, honesty and calming down is the key to showing the employer that even when you're under pressure, you'll react the right way. Think about this before your interview because if something does happen you won't have time to think.

Just a Thought,
Gus

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