The Secrets to Walmart's Success:
The Future of Retail Store Operations and Asset Protection

By Tony D'Onofrio, Global Retail Influencer

"Information is power, and the gain you get from empowering your associates more than offsets the risk of informing your competitor." - Sam Walton

Walmart Innovation Accelerates

In response to mobile empowered consumers and ecommerce trends, Walmart has accelerated deployments of new technologies. An example is the Retail Intelligent Lab in Levittown, New York.

In April, Walmart announced the expansion to 350 stores of autonomous artificial intelligence computer vision mobile robots (AMRs) used to provide real-time on-shelf product data.

The company is also expanding autonomous, self-driving floor scrubbers from 300 to 1500 locations and by the end of the year will have 1,700 robotic BOPIS (Buy-On-Line-Pickup-In-Store) towers.

Continuous Asset Protection Innovation

The spirit of unending incremental innovation was alive and well represented during my visit to the Walmart AP test store in Oklahoma. For security reasons, I will only comment on a few of the technologies and will not go into extensive details observed during the tour.

Numerous science-backed solution examples from the Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC), including vivid reminders of the "See it, Get it, Fear it" theft deterrence philosophy are present throughout the Tulsa store. In the parking lot and on strategic locations around the building, you will find the "Lot Cop" where solar power, visual lighting, video with analytics, and audio capabilities combine in a unique solution to deter crime.

To understand Zone 4 parking lot protection, read Welcome to Omnichannel Retail Loss Prevention, on LPRC zones of influence layered security theft deterrence.

A Self-Checkout Secure Future

From multiple perspectives, the front-end of the Oklahoma store is the future of retail. Consumers have an extensive number of options to complete their shopping journey while passive / active security solutions deter Point-of-Sale (POS) criminal activities.

Walmart has deployed computer vision technology with artificial intelligence (AI) powered cameras to monitor checkouts in more than 1,000 stores.

The POS terminals in the Tulsa store have a Walmart patented camera installation with built-in analytics that integrate a public view image of the shopper into the transaction. Also being tested is video transaction monitoring for bottom of the basket items in large orders.

This particular location has 30 self-checkout stations, including full-belt variations. Larger public view monitors are above the lanes, each testing different features of incremental deterrence.

Additional public view monitors are also prevalent throughout the store, either in high theft categories (ePVMs) or at door exits. tonydonofrio.com

Retail Trade Groups Criticize Tariff War Escalation
A number of retail trade groups issued statements strongly criticizing the Trump administration's threat to raise tariffs higher and order U.S. companies to exit China. The threats came Friday after Beijing unveiled retaliatory tariffs on $75 billion in U.S. goods.

President Donald Trump ordered existing U.S. tariffs on $250 billion worth of goods be hiked to 30 percent from 25 percent. He also said he would raise planned tariffs on another $300 billion worth of goods to 15 percent, up from an earlier plan of 10 percent levies beginning Sept. 1.

Finally, Trump promised to declare a "national emergency" to order U.S. companies to cut ties with China. The developments rocked the stock market on Friday and heightened concerns that the continuing trade war could drive the U.S. into a recession.

In a statement, The National Retail Federation (NRF) Senior Vice President for Government Relations David French said, "It's impossible for businesses to plan for the future in this type of environment. The administration's approach clearly isn't working, and the answer isn't more taxes on American businesses and consumers. Where does this end?"

In a statement from Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), COO Brian Dodge stated, "The President's continued escalation of tariffs has already rattled the U.S. market. If uncertainty spreads from Wall Street to Main Street, the record expansion we're enjoying will undoubtedly come to an end and it will be the American consumer, not China, who will suffer. Mr. President, we implore you to end this trade war before the damage is irreversible." sgbonline.com

Trump Aides Say He Isn't Ordering U.S. Companies Out of China
Aides to President Trump said Sunday he has no plans to invoke emergency powers and force companies to relocate operations from China, two days after his Friday tweet that they were "hereby ordered" to look for alternative locations. wsj.com

Escalating trade war could pound some struggling retailers into the ground
The last thing many of the nation's most struggling retailers need is an escalation of the U.S.-China trade war. That's especially so for retailers such as J.C. Penney, Macy's and the like - legacy companies saddled with way too much debt, little pricing power and too many stores in the age of digital shopping. These companies are ill-equipped to raise prices to compensate for the higher cost of their merchandise as a result of a full-blown tariff war.

With next to no pricing power and costs on the rise, investors will ratchet up their concerns on the sales and debt repayment outlooks for these household name brands. finance.yahoo.com

TJ Maxx, Marshalls Enjoying 'Phenomenal' Perks Thanks to Tariffs
- But Off-Price Retailers Are Not in the Clear Yet
One sector that's seemed largely shielded from the trade war is off-price, as chains like T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Ross have posted quarter after quarter of rising sales and traffic gains. Moreover, these retailers are far less reliant on Chinese imports than most of their full-price peers, and far more flexible in terms of where they source their products.

Analysts and industry experts have warned that the category could still face pricing pressure as a result of the tariffs that President Donald Trump has promised will take effect Sept. 1 and Dec. 15, however, and in reporting second quarter earnings this week, TJX Cos. (parent to T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Home Goods) and Ross Stores acknowledged some uncertainty around their possible impact on margins. footwearnews.com
 

Battered Hong Kong faces economic recession, existential crisis
Retail sales down 20-30% as violent protests continue
As one of the world's most important trade and business hubs, Hong Kong was always going to struggle this year because of the escalating U.S.-China tariff war. But after three months of anti-government protests, the semi-autonomous Chinese city, a shopper's paradise and gourmet destination for millions of tourists each year, is facing an existential as well as an economic crisis.

Banks are issuing unprecedented profit warnings, while hotels and restaurants are half-empty. Several global events have been postponed and economists say retail sales could drop by 20%-30% this year.

In the city's International Finance Center, which houses many financial firms and luxury retail stores, some shops closed early on several days in August during violent protests. Stores including Dior, Tiffany & Co. and Samsonite have shortened their operating hours in some stores to allow staff to get home safely. Foot traffic has also fallen.

An employee at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE's Swiss watch unit Tag Heuer said, "With less tourists, our sales KPI have dropped," referring to the store's performance metrics. All sales are dropping "unless you're selling masks now - and this," he said, putting his hand on his head in reference to helmets worn by the protesters. reuters.com wsj.com

Walmart and other retailers face a new front on gun sales: Lawsuits
Although the recent mass shootings at Walmart stores in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, have renewed calls for retailers to stop selling firearms, some people tragically affected by gun violence are taking matters into their own hands - by suing.

This shift in the legal environment around the manufacturing and sale of guns is occurring even as lawmakers and the Trump administration remain paralyzed over gun control. In 2005, Congress passed a bill that protected gun manufacturers and sellers from being held liable for injuries deaths inflicted by their products. Yet there are exceptions in cases where the sale violates state or federal law.

As a result, experts say suits against retailers represent a new front against guns, with attorneys finding a more winnable argument: namely, retailers can be held liable for selling a gun to a person they should have known was purchasing the weapon for someone else. cbsnews.com

Dollar General and Dollar Tree fined $1.2 million for selling expired drugs
Retail discounters Dollar General and Dollar Tree will pay $1.2 million in fines for selling expired products, the New York Attorney General announced Monday. The investigation also called out Family Dollar, which was acquired by Dollar Tree in 2015. All the chains sold expired over-the-counter drugs, while Dollar General was fined for selling motor oil unsuitable for modern cars. Dollar Tree also violated New York's bottle deposit law. cnbc.com

Northwest Grocery workers authorize strike if talks don't resolve differences
Grocery store workers in Oregon and Southwest Washington have voted to authorize a strike if the workers' union fails to reach a satisfying agreement with negotiators representing such stores as Fred Meyer, QFC, Safeway and Albertsons. Members of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 555 in Baker City voted on Saturday night to authorize a strike. That vote concluded a series of 92 meetings held this summer across Oregon and Southwest Washington, according to Kelley McAllister, the union's communications director. Members of the union voted nearly unanimously, McAllister said, to authorize a strike if needed. oregonlive.com

Social media antics causing grief at Walmart, Target, Lowe's and other stores
In a popular new social media fad that retailers wish will soon grow stale, YouTubers are creating click bate video content by staging pranks in big chain stores, most notably Walmart, but also in Target, Home Depot, Lowe's, Ikea and others. Often, the videos depict pranksters dancing and acting up in front of employees to instigate reactions for the camera, but oftentimes the performances involve vandalism with the intent of getting the workers to contact the police. businessinsider.com