8/7/19

LP, AP & IT Security's #1 News Source

Axis Retail Leadership Forum
Save the Date! August 12-15, 2019

8th annual user forum to be held at Microsoft HQ in Seattle, WA

Retail is a vast world of endless complexities including asset protection, the Internet of Things, software analytics, network security and other business functions. There exists a variety of intelligent solutions you can use to cover everything from loss prevention and asset protection to traffic counting and shelf space compliance. But to manage all of this - and more - it's critical you adopt a solution that works best for your entire team.

Please join us for 2 days of education and open discussion about advances in intelligent surveillance technology and all that you can do with it! This year we are lucky enough to bring loss prevention and IT retail leaders together at Microsoft HQ just outside Seattle.

The focus is on your needs, overcoming your challenges, and preparing you for the future. Take this valuable opportunity to network, share experiences, and learn the ins-and-outs of finding the right solution for you!

Click here to learn more

Stores not responsible for protecting customers from sudden, random acts of violence, B.C. court rules
The July 19 decision, released July 31 came after an assault by one customer against another at a Vancouver London Drugs store, a situation dating back to 2003. The court heard evidence of London Drugs' security and safety polices. Justice Karen Horsman found the company's steps to ensure the safety of its stores were reasonable.

"London Drugs was not under a duty to guard against the sudden, random, and apparently unprecedented act of violence by John Doe No. 1," Horsman ruled. "There was no foreseeable risk that London Drugs customers might be the victim of unprovoked physical assaults by other London Drugs customers."

Moreover, the judge said, there was nothing Shewchuk could have done to guard against an attack that, in Tanaka's words "came out of nowhere." The action was brought as a negligence claim under B.C.'s Occupiers Liability Act (OLA). biv.com

Thefts at LCBO stores on the rise in Ottawa
Shop Owner Blames LCBO Policy
OPSEU's liquor board employees division chair, Jennifer Van Zetten, said staff are trained not to intervene when they witness a theft. Karen Nielsen, a former social worker who owns HighJinx - a second-hand store in Centretown that doubles as a hub for low-income and homeless people in the area - said that policy makes LCBO stores easy marks.

Police working with retailers
Hodgins said the force's goal is to reduce retail thefts, but non-violent offences like thefts don't get the same attention that violent offences do. Nevertheless, he said police are working with community partners, including retailers, on the problem. Nielsen said the LCBO, and not police, should be responsible for deterring thefts.

Increasing security
In a statement to CBC, the LCBO said it's increasing security at select locations by implementing "industry-leading technology" and providing staff with mandatory training. The provincial Crown corporation has hired 3 Sixty Risk Solutions Ltd., based in Almonte, Ont., to provide security at its stores in the northern, eastern and western regions of the province. The company currently provides security services in the cannabis sector. cbc.ca

'It's time to start making changes':
Winnipeg store liquor thefts still a major problem
Brazen, daylight thefts have been an ongoing problem at liquor stores around Manitoba, leaving paying customers to wonder what is being done about it. For many, it seems like the answer is "nothing."

After countless public robberies, in March Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries announced new tactics were being introduced to enhance security at the stores. The new measures would include a mobile team of trained loss-prevention officers who would work with existing security teams. MBLL said they would be stationed at Liquor Marts during peak periods, or at stores that have experienced a spike in thefts.

However, MBLL could not tell Global News where it is in that process or how many of these new officers have been hired.

MBLL also previously said in addition to security staff changes, there would be new protocols for customers. A "no-bag" policy means customers may be asked to check their bags with security when entering a Liquor Mart. However, again, it could not answer how many stores these changes have been implemented in.

Economist Robert Warren told Global News it's all about the cost-benefit analysis and it may be cheaper for the Crown Corporation to do nothing. globalnews.ca

siffron Announces New Canadian Distribution Partner
siffron, a leader in retail merchandising, announced that it has partnered with Toronto, Ontario-based Dana Industries as its exclusive Canadian distributor. For more than 25 years, Dana Industries has been a full-service provider of retail solutions. This new partnership will allow siffron to expand its sales and customer service capabilities within the Canadian market.

"We're confident, as we strive to provide on-going world class customer service, this partnership will result in an industry-best value proposition to our existing and new customers," said Bill Seering, siffron's Vice President of Sales. As of August 1, 2019, siffron's Canadian customers are directed to contact Dana Industries for sales and customer service. siffron.com

Class action lawsuit launched in Vancouver over Capital One data breach
A Vancouver law firm says a class action lawsuit has been launched on behalf of six million Canadians whose personal information was compromised by a data breach at Capital One Financial Corp. ctvnews.ca

Canada Store Openings & Expansions
● New grocery store coming to Chatham
● Drake's 'OVO' Brand Continues Canadian Store Expansion with High Profile Location
● Pioneer Cannabis Corp. announces opening of first retail location
● New Apple Store at Toronto Eaton Centre Said to Open in October
● Kiaro Opens Flagship Store in Vancouver
● New illycaffè opens in YVR's international terminal

Calgary shootings more than double what they were last year

View Canadian Connections Archives

Gatekeeper Systems Using Technology for #DramaFreeLP at the Door Robert Harling, CEO, Gatekeeper Systems

As shoplifter apprehensions have turned more violent in recent years, Gatekeeper Systems, the international leader in cart containment and Pushout Theft solutions, has stepped up to address this dangerous problem. CEO Robert Harling explains how Gatekeeper's Purchek anti-theft solution not only reduces retail employee injuries and shopping cart replacement costs, but also helps avoid violent shoplifter confrontations that statistics prove are becoming more prevalent.

Quick Take 4 with Hanwha Techwin America
 

Miguel Lazatin, Director of Product & Channel Marketing and Jordan Rivchun, Leader, Retail Solutions & Strategy Hanwha Techwin America

Hanwha is a global Fortune 500 company and now one of the fastest growing security manufacturers in the world, driven by customer-led product design and development. Jordan Rivchun tells us why these reasons and more led him to join Hanwha Techwin America after years working on the retailer side of the business. And Miguel Lazatin shares some of the exciting new solutions they're bringing to the market.

Amazon price alerts are leading sellers to raise prices on Walmart
or risk losing perks

The company's price alert system may be found anti-competitive

Amazon is indirectly causing third-party sellers to raise prices on their products if those products are listed on competing storefronts at lower prices, according to a report from Bloomberg. This is potentially anti-competitive, and it may become a central piece of evidence in the federal government's ongoing antitrust investigations into US tech companies.

Amazon is not going so far as to openly demand its third-party sellers raise prices, according to Bloomberg. In some cases, Amazon may want the seller to lower the prices of its items on Amazon.com to match the prices on Walmart and elsewhere. Walmart also encourages its sellers to match prices across platforms. But Walmart isn't as influential as Amazon's Marketplace, which is the dominant online platform in the US for third-party sellers.

Amazon scans a merchant's prices for listings on its Marketplace platform and compares them to that same merchant's listings on other platforms, like Walmart and eBay. It then notifies the seller of the disparity and informs the business that it may lose promotional benefits - like a higher placement in search results, Prime shipping, and access to "buy now" buttons - due to the difference in price, which would lead to lower sales.

Amazon used to have a policy that required price parity across marketplace platforms, instead of simply encouraging it. Amazon eliminated that policy in the EU in 2013 and removed it for US sellers in May of this year. But the price alerts appear to be having the adverse effect of keeping prices high across all platforms, rather than influencing sellers to lower them.

That may give ammunition to regulators at the Federal Trade Commission, which is currently looking into Amazon as part of a broad antitrust probe. Although the investigation has not been formally announced, The Verge reported last week that FTC lawyers and economists have begun interviewing Amazon Marketplace sellers over a deal the company struck with Apple last year. The deal, which brought Apple onto Amazon in an official capacity for the first time, had the effect of kicking off third-party refurbishers that were selling low-cost Apple products. The result has been a rise in the average cost of some Apple products sold on Amazon, which is a potential price-fixing violation that could result in antitrust action, experts say.

If Amazon has also been indirectly pressuring sellers to raise prices through its price alerts, which it began sending out to sellers in 2017, the company could come under even more scrutiny. theverge.com

Rising consumer spending a catalyst for increased ecommerce fraud
The Barclays Consumer Spending index highlights a contraction in consumer spending, with growth hindered by declines in petrol and supermarket expenditure. This comes after what was a record quarter for the online retailing sector, signposting changing consumer habits and the rise of ecommerce, with customers valuing the convenience of transacting on digital devices at the click of a button.

As consumers continue to value the ease of online shopping, ecommerce fraud is growing at twice the rate of sales. 2019 has already seen ecommerce fraud amounting to £393 million, which made up 59 per cent of total card fraud cases, with nascent ecommerce merchants being cited as primary targets for this fraud.

However, by investing in fraud detection and prevention solutions that verify a user's identity and cross-references it against fraud data at the customer on boarding stage, merchants can curb significant losses from fraud, according to Zac Cohen, General Manager at Trulioo. internationalsupermarketnews.com

A'gaci shutters e-commerce operations

1-800-Flowers to acquire FTD's Shari's Berries for $20.5 million

49% of all risky online transactions come from mobile devices

Update: Salt Lake City, UT: Pawnshop boss directed thieves to steal new tools, vacuums, gift cards
In the fall of 2017, security personnel for online and brick-and-mortar retailers along the Wasatch Front held a meeting with Utah law enforcement. The merchants were worried about pawnshops. The retailers complained that a lot of brand-new, still-in-the-box merchandise was being sold at Wasatch Front pawnshops, according to documents describing the meeting. Representatives from eBay, documents say, warned especially about one pawnshop - Xtreme Pawn in West Jordan. Officials with eBay said at the time that 58% percent of that shop's online sales with eBay listed the merchandise as new.

The meeting has resulted in a crackdown on a number of pawnshops in Salt Lake and Utah counties, and criminal charges filed last week. The Utah Attorney General's Office charged the manager at Xtreme Pawn, John Michael Jones, 40, with eight felonies, including counts of receiving stolen property and Utah's equivalent of racketeering. Neither Jones nor his attorney returned messages seeking comment Tuesday. The defendant has not yet entered a plea and has been issued a summons to appear in state court in West Jordan on Sept. 6. sltrib.com

Palm Beach, FL: Jewelry Store Employee stole $60,000 worth of rings and charms, sold on eBay and Poshmark.com
A West Palm Beach woman faces 10 charges, including felony grand theft, after a Palm Beach store manager says she stole more than $60,000 worth of jewelry while working there. Michelle Dawn Chapman, 35, took rings and charm sets from the Helen Ficalora store the report said. Chapman listed some of the jewelry for sale on eBay and Poshmark.com, and pawned numerous items at American Pawn in Royal Palm Beach using her own fingerprints and identification. Chapman received almost $10,000 in payment from the pawn shop between January and July, the report said. palmbeachdailynews.com

Gwinett County, GA: Six wanted for $2,700 theft at Victoria's Secret at Mall of Georgia Described by police as a "theft crew," on the afternoon of May 29 five women and one man successfully stole about $2,700 worth of clothing from the Victoria's Secret located within the Mall of Georgia. Entering the store in separate groups of two, the suspects were in the store for approximately 40 minutes. An employee noticed that all six suspects, though entering the store in pairs a few minutes apart, were interacting with each other during the entire 40 minutes they were in the store. Security footage showed the suspects working together, removing security devices from items and placing the clothing in each other's bags. One suspect is seen removing security devices and stuffing them in her bra, and later discarding the devices on the floor and onto shelves. northgwinnettvoice.com

Silver Springs, MD: Man arrested in $6,300 Theft/Refund scheme at The Home Depot Jaime R. Toledo, 51, of Silver Spring, was charged with 10 counts of theft following a nearly four-month spree allegedly netting him $6,300. From Feb. 15 to May 4, Toledo repeatedly stole merchandise and returned it for a full cash refund, police said. Stolen items ranged from boxes of nails and packages of toilet paper individually valued at less than $20 to major equipment, such as a lawn mower and pressure washer each worth several hundred dollars, according to charging documents. bethesdamagazine.com

Broward County, FL: BSO investigating $2,000 power tool theft from The Home Depot Broward Sheriff's Office detectives are releasing surveillance video in the hopes of identifying the suspect from the North Lauderdale Home Depot. The theft occurred shortly before 3 p.m. on July 11, 2019. The suspect is seen walking into the store pushing an empty shopping cart. After loading the cart, he passes all points of sale and casually slips out through the garden center exit. A loss prevention officer tries to stop him, but the crook escapes with a paint gun, two leaf blowers, a trimmer, and batteries. wsvn.com

Sydney, Australia: Jewelry store robber's brazen $300,000 Hollywood-style heist A lone crook broke into a Sydney jewellery shop and swiped $300,000 worth of precious goods by cutting a hole in a wall from the shop next door. The robber was caught on CCTV climbing through the roof of the North Rocks shopping centre on Sunday at 3.25am. 9news.com.au

Calvert County, MD: Sheriff's Office investigating $800 theft of Hennessy Cognac
 

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