Alibaba recruiting brands to escalate fight against fakes

The Chinese e-commerce colossus is establishing an anti-counterfeit advisory board to include brands and trade associations, but details are murky at best — and trust is low.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 23, 2016

Amazon lands US patent covering drone security measures

The e-commerce giant noted in its original 2014 patent filing that drones and their on-board communication and data systems could be targeted by malicious hackers.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 22, 2016

Explore the Trendline➔

The state of loss prevention in retail

The types of losses attributed to retail theft has become more apparent — as is the need for more in-depth reporting and prevention strategies. 

By Retail Dive staff

US Trade office re-lists Alibaba's Taobao in Notorious Markets report

Alibaba blamed the political climate in the U.S. and called the move “counterproductive.”

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 22, 2016

Tiffany festoons NYPD-sanctioned pathway near Trump Tower

Retailers near Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City are suffering falling traffic due to increased security and daily protests.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 20, 2016

Akamai acquires bot security upstart Cyberfend

Cyberfend's bot-related security and detection solutions will help Akamai grow its bot management and mitigation services for several industries, including retail.

By Dan O'Shea • Dec. 19, 2016

Wal-Mart facing more local pressure to deal with crime

Legislators from Minnesota's Twin Cities region contend Wal-Mart is hurting the community's bottom line by leaning too much on local law enforcement.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 19, 2016

Report: December brings weather-driven apparel sales lift

Retailers have complained about unseasonable weather hurting sales the past two holiday seasons, but this year the cold is boosting demand for winter gear already.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 9, 2016

Labor group pressures Wal-Mart to solve escalating crime problem

Violent crime is taxing law enforcement and putting employees and customers at risk, according to Making Change at Walmart.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 8, 2016

Visa to acquire payment authenticator CardinalCommerce

The deal will enable Visa to expand Cardinal’s products and services globally and to boost fraud protection as digital payments expand to additional channels.

By Daphne Howland • Dec. 2, 2016

MasterCard rolls out AI-based fraud detection and decision service

The value of false credit card declines is more than 13 times the total amount lost to actual card fraud, researchers estimate.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 30, 2016

How retailers can protect themselves against cyber threats this holiday season

Retailers face a range of security threats, including point-of-sale issues, distributed denial-of-service attacks, inferior IT infrastructure and lax information security procedures. Here's how they can mitigate losses.

By Brian Dunphy • Nov. 30, 2016

Amazon reportedly developing tech tools to fight counterfeiters

A suite of digital solutions dubbed Brand Central will help smaller Amazon sellers increasingly victimized by copycats.

By Daphne Howland • Nov. 23, 2016

Staples, Managed by Q partner to deliver more office services

The office supplies retailer will now connect customers in major U.S. cities to Managed by Q’s network of office services firms, including IT support staffers, cleaners, handymen and even workplace yoga instructors.

By Dan O'Shea • Nov. 17, 2016

Primark finds payment card skimmers at US stores

Devices for stealing payment card data were illegally placed on "a limited number of card payment machines" in two of the retailer's Pennsylvania locations.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 31, 2016

Luxury handbag retailers scaling back assortments to revive demand

Competing on price can kill margins for any retailer, but it’s especially problematic for high-fashion companies because big price tags are part of their brand identity.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 31, 2016

Trade groups lobby for Alibaba's return to USTR Notorious Markets list

Counterfeit sales are at “crisis levels,” according to a letter signed by 18 trade groups from across North America, Europe and Asia.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 27, 2016

Report: Nine West gets financing reprieve to ride out the holidays

The struggling accessories and footwear maker is loaded with about $1.7 billion in debt and faced a downgrade over the summer.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 25, 2016

Cyberattacks knock out Etsy, Shopify, others as e-commerce security fears mount

Hacker group New World Hackers unloaded 1.2 trillion bits of data traffic on web domain company Dyn's servers, making its customers' sites crash.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 23, 2016

Why retailers' cybersecurity vulnerabilities could hurt holiday sales

Merchants keep falling prey to cybercrime, but retail executives keep diverting attention and funding elsewhere. The problem is it could cost them customers — in some cases, forever.

By Jason Ankeny • Oct. 19, 2016

Alibaba delivery partner ZTO Express readies big NYSE IPO

The Chinese logistics firm derived 75% of its business during the first half of 2016 delivering parcels for Alibaba.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 16, 2016

Researcher: Thousands of shopping sites hacked, card data skimmed

Multiple culprits likely were able to skim credit cards used at online stores run by retailers, consumer brands, automakers, government entities and other parties.

By Dan O'Shea • Oct. 13, 2016

How technology will shape the future of retail loss prevention

Innovations in technology are rapidly evolving the stealth and skills of cybercriminals. But merchant loss prevention strategies are making dramatic strides as well.

By Richard Mellor • Oct. 4, 2016

Court: Costco should pay Tiffany $5.5M for trademark breach

While “Tiffany” describes a ring setting many jewelers now use, a federal jury ruled Costco went too far in labeling its diamond rings with the iconic brand name.

By Daphne Howland • Oct. 3, 2016

Report: Retailers caught in bankruptcy spiral have lost 'reason to exist'

Half of retailers that file for bankruptcy won't make it out alive, a percentage much higher than in other industries, according to a study of 30 recent retail bankruptcies conducted by Fitch Ratings.

By Daphne Howland • Sept. 29, 2016

Experian: E-commerce fraud attack rate up 15% over 2015

Data suggests that stolen credit and debit cards, card numbers and identities are fueling incidents of "card not present" fraud.

By Dan O'Shea • Sept. 22, 2016