May 10: National Shrimp Day

How Nordstrom Uses WiFi To Spy On Shoppers

Are people comfortable giving up even more privacy to help boost retailers’ bottom lines? That’s the aim of Nordstrom’s use of Euclid — a service that lets retailers track individuals’ movements through their smart phones’ in-store WiFi connections. But Nordstrom is quick to point out that the tracking is anonymous, so no worries.

Nordstrom is among 100 Euclid customers that the New York Times reports have “already tracked about 50 million devices in 4,000 locations.”

Nordstrom is using Euclid’s technology in 17 stores around the country, according to CBS-11. A Nordstrom spokesperson, Tara Darrow, told CBS-11 that ”sensors within the store collect information from customer smartphones as they attempt to connect to Wi-Fi service. The sensors can monitor which departments you visit and how much time you spend there. However, the sensors do not follow your phone from department to department, nor can they identify any personal information tied to the phone’s owner.”


http://www.forbes.com/sites/petercohan/2013/05/09/how-nordstrom-and-home-depot-use-wifi-to-spy-on-shoppers/?partner=yahootix

Judge Allows Evidence Gathered From FBI’s Spoofed Cell Tower

An Arizona judge has denied a motion to suppress evidence collected through a spoofed cell tower that the FBI used to track the location of an accused identity thief.

The ruling means that the government may use not only evidence gathered through its fake cell tower to locate an air card that Daniel David Rigmaiden was using to access the internet, but also evidence gathered from the apartment to which they tracked him through the air card and evidence collected from a storage space and computer hard drives found in the apartment and storage locker.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge David Campbell based his decision on whether Rigmaiden had a reasonable expectation of privacy in the use of the air card inside his apartment, as well as in the apartment itself and the storage unit that was discovered through the search of the apartment.

Judge Campbell concluded that Rigmaiden did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in any of these because he had obtained the air card and rented the apartment and storage space through fraudulent means — that is, using identifications that he had stolen from other people.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/05/rigmaiden-cell-tower-evidence/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Top+Stories%29

Whole Foods Mulls Larger Stores, Acquisitions

AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market here said Tuesday that improving results at larger stores between five and eight years old may prompt it to consider opening stores of mixed sizes going forward.

Locations that Whole Foods opened between 2007 and 2009 “are still comping strongly as they get older,” John Mackey, chairman and co-chief executive officer, told analysts, “and they have higher long-term potential than smaller stores because they offer more parking, less spoilage and greater efficiencies. Many of those stores [of 40,000 square feet to 45,000 square feet] opened when the economy dipped, but sales are up and they are performing well enough that we’re considering opening some bigger flagship stores in certain markets.”

Whole Foods has been focusing on stores of 30,000 to 35,000 square feet in the last few years as it has entered smaller markets, “but we’re now shifting back up to a range of 35,000 to 45,000 square feet,” David Lannon, executive vice president, operations, pointed out.

The company may also seek to acquire smaller stores, as it did when it purchased six Johnnies Foodmaster locations in the Boston area last year. It reopened the first one, in Brookline, Mass., under the Whole Foods banner a month ago — at 16,000 square feet, the smallest Whole Foods in the U.S. — “and it’s off to a good start and doing better than expected,” Lannon said, “and we’re bullish on replicating that strategy.”


Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/natural-food-stores/whole-foods-mulls-larger-stores-acquisitions#ixzz2Sn6Q0dE5

Kroger Houston Workers Approve 3-Year Deal

CINCINNATI — Kroger Co. late Monday said workers at its stores in Houston have voted to ratify a new three-year contract.

The new pact covers 13,729 associates in 109 stores in the Houston area represented by United Food and Commercial Workers Local 455.

"We are pleased to reach an agreement that is good for our associates. It provides a solid compensation package of wages and benefits, including affordable health care and pension for retirement," Bill Breetz, president of Kroger's Southwest Division, said in a statement.


Read More: http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/kroger-houston-workers-approve-3-year-deal#ixzz2Sn5m07rm

Majority of Shoppers Don’t Make Lists

Fewer than half of primary grocery shoppers (44 percent) normally prepare a shopping list prior to a trip to the supermarket or grocery store, according to The Hartman Group.

The Hartman Group’s Shopping Topography 2012 research also revealed that in the store, 18 percent of consumers consult a shopping list maintained online or on a mobile device.

“Today, consumers think less about shopping per se than about what else they’re trying to accomplish, and shopping trips emerge from culturally defined patterns of living that by themselves may or may not have anything to do with shopping,” the consulting group noted in its recent “HartBeat” newsletter.

The group’s research suggests that shoppers typically rely on some combination of primary shopping tactics to complete their trips: taking inventory of needs prior to leaving home, shopping up and down the aisles, circling the perimeter, looking for at-shelf sale promotions, assembling recipes, reading circulars, collecting coupons and using lists.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/shopper-behavior/id39002/majority-of-shoppers-dont-make-lists/

I almost always use a list when shopping, unless it is a trip for a single item and even then I often write it down on a post it or whatever.

Mother’s Day Spending to Reach $20.7B

Consumers will spend an average of $168.94 for Mother’s Day, up 11 percent from last year’s $152.52, according to NRF’s Mother’s Day spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight. Additionally, this year's total spending is expected to reach $20.7 billion.

“It’s clear that Americans this year want to honor the woman with the hardest job in the world with unique and special gifts this Mother’s Day,” said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. “After a long winter that kept many from splurging on any new spring merchandise, retailers are looking forward to opening their doors and surprising shoppers with promotions that are perfect for any gardener, host, fashionista or tech-savvy mom.”

While traditional gifts such as flowers, apparel and gift cards will maintain their popularity, many consumers will stretch their budget a little further and buy a tablet, smartphone or necklace. The survey found 14.1 percent – the highest in the survey’s history – of shoppers this Mother’s Day will spend more than $2.3 billion on electronics, up from $1.6 billion last year, and more than one-third (34.4 percent) of gift givers will buy jewelry, spending a total of $4.2 billion, up from $3.7 billion last year.

Additionally, gift givers will splurge on a special outing, such as brunch or dinner ($3.5 billion), flowers ($2.3 billion), gift cards ($2 billion), clothing or clothing accessories ($1.7 billion), and personal service gifts, such as a day at the spa ($1.5 billion).

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/shopper-behavior/id39014/mothers-day-spending-to-reach-20-7b/

Revel’s iPad POS Upgrade Protects Against ID Fraud

iPad point-of-sale (POS) solutions provider Revel Systems has launched Revel 2.0, an updated version of its POS system that touts several new user features with a strong focus on security updates, including photo confirmation anti-identity theft protection built directly into the POS.

With Revel's patent-pending new identity theft protection feature, an image of the credit card holder appears on the screen every time a card is swiped through the Revel iPad POS system, giving merchants and customers enhanced protection.

“At Revel we spend a lot of our time thinking about and trying to stay one step ahead of security for mobile point-of-sale transactions, while keeping ease-of-use front and center,” said Chris Ciabarra, Revel’s CTO and co-founder who has a background in IT credit card security. “For this important update, the team laid out all possible security issues for our customers. Concentrating on credit card fraud – both current and forward thinking into future scenarios – we built onto the advancements that have been made for chip-and-PIN, CVV codes and PCI compliance to add a brand new component that utilizes the power of the cloud and social web to pull the most obvious anti-identity theft tool out there: your face.”

According to Revel, while anti-fraud and anti-theft features are becoming more commonplace for POS systems, anti-identity theft has proven to be a more difficult task to integrate into systems. Stolen, fake or fraudulent cards have been extremely difficult to flag at the actual POS device, since systems have not had a way to visually recognize a consumer.

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/in-store-systems/id39021/revels-ipad-pos-upgrade-protects-against-id-fraud/

Marketplace Fairness Act Clears Senate Hurdle

The Marketplace Fairness Act (S. 743) has garnered 69 votes for final passage in the U.S. Senate and now moves to the House of Representatives, an action that had many retail groups celebrating.

“The current state of inconsistent sales and use tax collection in the United States makes legislation like the Marketplace Fairness Act a necessity,” noted Jennifer Hatcher, SVP of government and public affairs for Arlington, Va.-based Food Marketing Institute (FMI). “The bill simply makes it clear that states have the authority to require online retailers to collect sales and use taxes, as long as the state complies with simplification requirements designed to ease the burden of collection on retailers.”

Currently, there are two separate sets of rules governing the collection of sales taxes: one for online and one for traditional brick-and-mortar retailers. While brick-and-mortar stores are required to collect state and local sales taxes, online operators can’t be required to collect these taxes unless they have a physical presence in the state.

Added Hatcher: “Our most recent research suggests that over the next 10 years, online grocery orders will decrease overall in-store sales by 11 percent, so this legislation reflects and supports the changing retail landscape.”

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/competitive-watch/id39015/marketplace-fairness-act-clears-senate-hurdle/?icid=homepage

UFCW, Food Makers Team on Immigration

The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) and the Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition (FMIC) have joined forces to push for comprehensive immigration reform, in a letter praising the so-called Senate “Gang of Eight” for their efforts on S. 744, but also requesting additions to the Senate bill in the areas of visa allocation and employment verification.

“We write in support of the comprehensive immigration reform process and thank you for your critical and constructive efforts in support of this legislation,” wrote UFCW International president Joe Hansen and the FMIC’s Barry Carpenter.

The groups affirmed their support for the Senate bill’s provisions to establish a roadmap to citizenship; protect family-based immigration; promote smart, effective border enforcement; implement a workable, transparent employment verification system; and create an occupational visa for nonseasonal, permanent positions. However, Hansen and Carpenter also pointed out the need for what they called “commonsense improvements” to the bill.

One such improvement was for more flexibility in regard to employment verification. “Allowing employers to use Self-Check in a uniform, nondiscriminatory fashion will create greater transparency for new employees, and will enable employers to ensure that their new hires are not circumventing E-Verify,” the letter said, adding, “If an employer takes the extra step of deterring identity theft through the uniform use of Self-Check, then the employer should be presumed to have acted in ‘good faith’ with respect to the E-Verify confirmations it receives.”

http://www.progressivegrocer.com/top-stories/headlines/cpgs-trading-partners/id39025/ufcw-food-makers-team-on-immigration/?icid=homepage