Retail stores: Embrace smartphone technology, or it’s your funeral
The time for retail stores to get with the mobile program is now. Stores that fail to embrace in-store technology – namely integrating smartphone apps with the customer shopping experience – risk their own extinction, claim London-based technology analyst ABI Research. Regardless of how sci-fi the shopping experience will be a decade from now, retailers would be wise to heed the mobile call. For starters, Connolly said, this means embracing next-generation inventory, point of sale and aggregated data technology. It also means using online analytics to better understand your store’s vast customer base and take advantage of new ad revenue channels… [Fierce CIO]
Finalists Named for the 2016 CFI of the Year Award
The International Association of Interviewers (IAI) has named this year’s finalists for the CFI of the Year award. This award recognizes achievement and performance while striving for excellence and professionalism in the performance of his or her duties, exhibiting the highest level of professionalism while interviewing sources, victims, witnesses, and suspects; and following the established CFI values as identified by the International Association of Interviewers. The 3 finalists for the 2016 award are:
• Hector Erazo, LPC, CFI (Market Asset Protection Manager for Walmart)
• Jonathan Derek Mayes, CFI (Regional Loss Prevention Manager for Tuesday Morning, Inc.)
• Tim Ruggiero, CFI (Regional Loss Prevention Manager for Barnes & Noble College Booksellers)
The winner of the CFI of the Year will be announced next week at Elite Training Day on April 6 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. [LP Magazine]
FBI-Apple case: Investigators break into San Bernardino gunman’s iPhone
The FBI has managed to unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino gunman without Apple’s help, ending a court case, the US justice department says. Apple had been resisting a court order issued last month requiring the firm to write new software to allow officials to access Syed Rizwan Farook’s phone. But officials on Monday said that it had been accessed independently and asked for the order to be withdrawn. Farook and his wife killed 14 in San Bernardino, California, in December. They were later shot dead by police. The FBI said it needed access to the phone’s data to determine if the attackers worked with others, were targeting others and were supported by others… [BBC News]
LP Worldwide: Gang of female thieves mount shoplifting spree in upmarket Glasgow store (Video)
A girl gang of thieves are caught on camera gleefully helping themselves to a haul of luxury goods from an upmarket shop. Footage shows the four-strong team laughing as they distract a member of staff before plundering the watches and other items worth hundreds of pounds. Crime sources believe the gang may have targeted dozens of shops around the city during their thieving spree – potentially taking the value of their haul into thousands of pounds. CCTV film shows one of the brazen women – who are thought to be eastern European – grabbing a number of £200 designer timepieces while the shopkeeper stands just inches away… [Daily Record]
3 arrested in alleged gas pump skimming scheme
Police have announced the arrest of three Cuban nationals in connection with an alleged credit card skimming and cloning operation. The suspects were allegedly making multiple purchases with stolen credit cards when police were alerted and officers located the suspects’ vehicle. 32 stolen and/or cloned credit cards were recovered. Authorities say the cards contained the identities of different victims, 15 of whom have been located. The victims’ credit card information was stolen through the use of a skimming device on a local gas pump… [ABC News]
Cargo Theft was Top Supply Chain Risk in 2015
Last year supply chains across the world faced a number of challenges. One of the largest issues was damages caused by cargo theft that amounted to $22.6 billion, according to BSI’s Supply Chain Risk Exposure Network. “Companies are facing an increasingly wide range of challenges to their supply chain, from human rights issues to acts of violent theft and natural disasters,” explained Jim Yarbrough, Global Intelligence Program Manager at BSI. “Such complexity creates extreme levels of risk for organizations, both directly affecting the bottom line but perhaps more seriously, hidden threats to the supply chain which, if ignored, could do serious harm to a company’s hard-earned reputation…” [MH&L]
The post Breaking News in the Industry: March 30, 2016 appeared first on LPM.