Retail Risk is Serious Business – and it’s Time we Acted Like it
Retailers are experts at managing risks like theft, skimmers, and food safety—but many still treat cyber threats as an afterthought, leaving millions of customer records exposed. As cybercrime losses soar, the industry has become a prime target for increasingly sophisticated attackers, with the average breach now costing $3.48 million. Just as no grocer would ignore a listeria outbreak, it’s time retailers take cybersecurity as seriously as shrink, safety, and compliance—or risk being the next headline.
Retail Touchpoints

Report: Dick’s Sporting Goods Seeks $2.3 Billion Acquisition of Foot Locker

Dick’s Sporting Goods is reportedly nearing a $2.3 billion deal to acquire Foot Locker, with finalization potentially coming as soon as May 15. Both retailers have faced challenges from economic uncertainty and tariff concerns, though Dick’s reported strong Q4 performance while Foot Locker saw declining annual revenue. The potential merger follows a wave of consolidation in the athletic retail sector, including 3G Capital’s recent $9.4 billion acquisition of Skechers.

PYMNTS

New study reveals economic ripple effects of mass shootings on local businesses

A new INFORMS Marketing Science study reveals that mass shootings cost U.S. retailers an estimated $27 billion in annual lost revenue, primarily due to declining foot traffic, reduced in-store spending, and store closures. Retailers within 1.25 miles of a shooting site experience a 19% drop in revenue, with nonessential stores hit hardest. Notably, communities with higher gun death rates show less financial impact, suggesting a troubling desensitization to violence — underscoring the broader, long-term toll mass shootings take on both public safety and local economies.

EurekAlert!

Retail Transformation: In An AI World, Experience Is Still King
Artificial intelligence, especially generative AI, is dominating retail conversations because it offers powerful tools for adapting to ever-changing consumer demands and gaining a competitive edge. But as retailers rush to implement new technologies, the article emphasizes that success hinges not just on what is deployed, but how and when—with a laser focus on customer and employee experience. Ultimately, tech transformations must serve a clear purpose: enhancing service, simplifying operations, and aligning with business outcomes—because flashy innovation without strategy can do more harm than good.
Forbes

Cyberstorm Incoming: Hackers Who Hit UK Retail Now Breaching U.S. Companies

Scattered Spider, a notorious group of young, social engineering-savvy hackers, is shifting its focus from the UK to U.S. retail chains, using tactics like SIM swapping and MFA fatigue to breach networks. Recently tied to ransomware attacks on Marks & Spencer, Co-op, and Harrods, the group has now adopted the DragonForce ransomware brand and may be offering its services to other cybercriminals. Google and UK authorities are sounding the alarm, warning that these coordinated attacks on high-profile retailers should be a wake-up call for U.S. businesses to bolster their cyber defenses—before they become the next headline.

Bleeping Computer

Talking Tech with Tom: Voice AI

This episode of Talking Tech with Tom, TalkLP Podcast Host Amber Bradley and CEO of CONTROLTEK, Tom Meehan, chat about voice AI and how you can’t believe what you SEE or HEAR on the internet. Commiserate with Amber as she asks Tom to explain why it takes forever to get a ‘representative’ on the phone. Hear from Tom as he explains where AI is going with voice recognition and how that translates into the retail, restaurant, and convenience store environment.

Whether Amazon is a seller or ‘mall’ is crux of SC Supreme Court case

SC Daily Gazette

DoorDash driver pleads guilty to $2.5 million delivery fraud

A food-delivery driver has pleaded guilty in federal court to participating in a scheme to steal more than $2.5 million from San Francisco-based delivery company DoorDash, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.

Sayee Chaitanya Reddy Devagiri, 30, of Newport Beach, California entered his plea on Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

He is the third person to be convicted in connection with the scheme to exploit internal software systems and the manipulation of delivery records.

BNO News

Arkansas jury awards Zest over $220 million in trade secrets case against Walmart

ABC 7 News

POS Connect: The Power of Video and Transaction Data

POS Connect in OpenEye Web Services reduces shrink, improves customer service, and streamlines investigations by combining your point-of-sale data with the power of video verification.

With POS Connect, you’ll receive a complete picture of every transaction in your workplace. Notice something suspicious? Our robust platform offers customizable search capabilities to quickly locate events of interest. Just as important, you’ll also have the tools to put this information in the right hands for further investigation.

Unlock the Advantages of POS Monitoring with POS Connect

Point-of-sale data is some of the most valuable data intelligence businesses have.

Records of transactions provide crucial insights into what is and isn’t working for your company, and receipt data can get you that. This is why POS monitoring is so vital for organizations everywhere. Having a real-time, searchable stream of transactions can be just the edge many businesses need to boost their workplace operations. But while your POS system may reflect what was purchased, it might not be giving you the full picture. 

This is where POS Connect comes in. By integrating your security video with your POS system, business owners can streamline their monitoring and get a better understanding of what’s happening during transactions.

There are many benefits to POS Connect:

1. Increase Business Intelligence

One of the greatest benefits of POS Connect is an increase in business intelligence. All the transactional data coming from a POS system is valuable, and when combined with video, that information becomes even more complex. POS Connect offers a way to interpret that data and see what factors are affecting your customers’ purchases.

2. Video Verification

Receipt data without any visual insights into those transactions can leave you with a major blind spot in your security. Because of that, video verification, or being able to see what’s happening during every purchase or refund, is another one of the primary benefits of POS Connect. Business owners can see how employees are handling transactions and where help may be needed around your company.

3. Customizable Search

The hundreds or potentially thousands of transactions that occur in a given month through a point-of-sale system make the task of sorting that much more daunting. Even when combined with video, it can still be difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for if you must review each transaction individually. Luckily, POS Connect offers the ability to easily search through the many transactions present in your system.

4. Transaction Alerts

Receiving real-time transaction alerts can help lay the groundwork for better business intelligence, which in turn can help you identify costly problems of fraud, operator error, or poor customer experiences. POS Connect allows you to customize alerts so you can keep an eye out for tactics or behaviors that often lead to transaction discrepancies.

5. Streamline Investigations

Investigations can be slow processes, so identifying any bottlenecks on your end can help speed everything up if law enforcement is involved. Customizable search with POS Connect can help with this, as well as the ability to quickly export security video and transaction data in OpenEye Web Services and send it over to any parties that will need it.

Get Insights From Your Surveillance

Focus on growing your business while your video surveillance network proactively analyzes key areas of your operation.

Lawmakers Swipe Back: Skimming, Retail Theft, and Fraud Face Major Penalties

Lawmakers gave final approval May 14 to a bill that criminalizes the unauthorized use of skimmer devices & creates enhanced penalties for kingpins.

LB559 defines a skimmer device as an electronic or other device used to capture, record, store or transmit data from a financial transaction device.

Unicameral Update

From Slaps to Sentences: Shoplifters Now Face Felonies

Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced the early success of Proposition 36, which increases certain shoplifting offenses from misdemeanors to felonies, leading to over 1,000 arrests since December.

The measure aims to deter flash-mob and repeat retail theft by warning would-be criminals of harsher consequences.

Spectrum News

Head of worker safety agency NIOSH restored, ahead of RFK Jr. hearing

The head of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and a handful of teams at the agency had their layoff notices rescinded Tuesday, multiple officials say, and several worker safety programs that had been eliminated by layoffs last month are being restored.

CBS News

Some 3,000 Cub Foods workers reject offer, threaten strike

Workers at Cub Foods, Haug’s, and Knowlan’s Festival Foods have rejected the latest contract offers from the retailers, and their union has warned of a potential strike, which could involve as many as 2,800 workers at 38 stores in the Minneapolis region, the union said.

United Food and Commercial Workers Local 663 said the companies’ proposed contracts would have shifted a larger share of health care costs to workers, did not include adequate pay increases, and sought concessions from the union.

Supermarket News

OSHA hits Target with nearly $30,000 in fines after Pennsylvania worker crushed to death

Target Corporation has been fined nearly $30,000 by OSHA following a fatal workplace incident at its Pennsdale, Pennsylvania store.

The incident occurred when an employee was crushed between a movable work platform and a door frame while working on a ceiling-mounted security system.

OSHA cited Target for a "serious" violation for not providing a hazard-free workplace and an "other-than-serious" violation for failing to report the death promptly, proposing fines of $16,550 and $13,005, respectively.

Star Tribune

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