OPERATIONS / SUPPLY CHAIN

NRF: When chips are down, you need a PIN
Chip-and-signature credit cards without a PIN won’t stop data breaches, at least not according to the National Retail Federation.

Although the new U.S. mandate for EMV-compliant chip-and-signature payment cards is now in effect, the NRF on Oct. 7 told Congress that new chip-and-signature credit cards without a PIN will not stop data breaches. What’s more, small businesses should not be pressured to install the equipment to accept them at the expense of more effective technology, according to the organization.
Former Walgreens senior operator to lead Fred’s store operations
Fred’s Super Dollar has named John Foley as the company's executive VP store operations, the company announced Wednesday morning. Mike Holligan, who formerly served in this capacity, will move to the open position of regional VP store operations.

TJX CEO to step down in January

The TJX Companies announced that chairman and CEO Carol Meyrowitz will step down, effective January 31, 2016.

She will be succeeded by Ernie Herrman, 54, who will retain his current title as president of the company. Meyrowitz, 61, who has been at the helm of TJX since January 2007, will become executive chairman of the company’s board at the time of the CEO transition.
Home Depot adds IT, cybersecurity expert to board

Nearly a year after a massive data breach, the Home Depot is looking to a cybersecurity veteran to add expertise to its board directors.

The world's largest home improvement retailer said it has appointed Linda R. Gooden to the company's board of directors. Gooden will serve on the company's audit and leadership development and compensation committees. Her appointment gives the company 12 directors, 11 of whom are independent.
Bigcommerce makes large shipping, fraud effort

Online shopping platform Bigcommerce sets expectations high with its name. Hot on the heels of offering the “Buyable Pins” Pinterest shopping feature and Twitter “Buy Now” social commerce button to its merchants, Bigcommerce is launching partnerships to simplify shipping and fraud detection.
Starbucks names Adobe tech head as its first CTO

Starbucks Corp. is looking to someone with detailed knowledge of developing technology solutions as its new chief technology officer.

The coffee giant has named Gerri Martin-Flickinger, who previously served as senior VP and CIO of Adobe, as CTO effective Nov. 2.

In her new role, Martin-Flickinger will lead the global IT function and play a key role in shaping the technology agenda across the Starbucks business. Interestingly, in her previous life she played a key role in enabling Adobe’s transformation to a cloud-based business.
Whole Foods Market cuts ties with prison labor program after backlash

On the heels of lackluster quarterly sales, job cuts and an overcharging scandal, Whole Foods Market is getting another round of bad publicity, and this time it’s about prison labor.

The retailer will stop selling food produced under a prison labor program. Specifically, it said it will stop selling tilapia sourced from Quixotic Farming and cheese distributed by Haystack Mountain Goat Dairy. Both companies partner with Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI), a division of Colorado's Department of Corrections.
Krebs: Fraudsters show plenty of innovation

Whatever your opinion of fraudsters who steal and resell consumer credit card data, you can’t deny they are highly innovative.

This was the key message of a presentation security blogger Brian Krebs gave at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo 2015 in Orlando, Florida, on Oct. 4.
Pizza retailers bring loyalty to customers

October is National Pizza Month, and two pizza chains are using mobile and social technology to heat up their loyalty programs as the weather cools.

The Los Angeles-based, 200-plus-unit California Pizza Kitchen will leverage a Paytronix-powered mobile rewards program.

Leveraging geofencing to identify members of its Pizza Dough loyalty program when they are near stores, California Pizza Kitchen will send push/pull mobile messages with a special October promotion offering 25% savings.
U.S. retailers losing $60 billion a year to fraud

A new survey has revealed some more glum news about shrink in the U.S. retail industry.

The 2015 U.S. Retail Fraud Survey by Retail Knowledge and Volumatic has estimated that U.S. retailers are losing $60 billion a year to shrink -- up from $57 billion last year. And employee theft is the single biggest cause of loss to retailers.