Sears Gets A New CIO, And (Once Again) Makes Its Old One Disappear
Sears Holdings has a new chief information officer. On Thursday (May 9), the chain said former Eli Lilly IT chief Jeff Balagna will become executive VP and CIO. But what's not clear is what has become of Keith Sherwell, Sears' highly visible (and now former) CIO.
Was Your Card Processor The One Hit In A $40 Million Breach?
Retailers trying to protect their payment-card information from thieves have something new to worry about. An unnamed U.S. card processor was attacked in February as part of a $40 million cyberheist, and thieves got essentially unlimited access to the processor's systems, meaning that all merchant card data was potentially compromised.
Target's Joint Program With Facebook Goes Out Of Its Way To Exclude Target.com
Target on Wednesday (May 8) started a trial program with Facebook, where its customers get discounts on products on services that are pushed through the social network, if they buy them inside a Target store. Bafflingly, the effort prohibits users from using the program to work with Target.com, even though that would be the much easier and intuitive way for shoppers to use the service.
Best Buy, Home Depot, Gap And Others Lose Major Patent Gift Card Lawsuit
A large group of major chains—Best Buy, JCPenney, Barnes & Noble, Gap, McDonald's, Toys R Us and Home Depot—was been dealt a major patent legal blow Friday (May 3) when a jury unanimously sided with a Texas company that owns a gift card processing patent.
Is Your Chain's Security Structure Creating Security Holes?
Here's the problem: What happens when a crime happens that crosses multiple jurisdictions? Is critical data falling through the cracks merely possible or an almost certainty? As Kmart (and its Sears parent) have now discovered, the answer is it's pretty much a certainty.
TOP HEADLINES
McDonald's To Add 75,000 New Hires In China
McDonald's plans to nearly double the number of employees it has in China this year as the chain opens 300 fast-food outlets and adds staff at the other 1,700. The 75,000 new employees will include 2,000 coffee baristas for the chain's McCafe outlets.
Target's Collecting Personal Data Without Permission In St. Louis Stores
Target stores are scanning and storing the electronically readable data on some customers' driver's licenses—and in at least some cases, collecting that data in-store without explaining or letting customers opt out, something the chain would probably never do online.
KFC's Same-Day Delivery Service, Gaza Smuggling Style
Newegg, Overstock Finally Beat Patent Troll
Rather than settle as several of its larger retail co-defendants—including Sears and Amazon—did, Newegg and Overstock have been fighting against an especially well-funded company, the patent troll unit of Alcatel-Lucent. On Wednesday (May 16), the retailers won, when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which hears all patent appeals, upheld a lower court decision which found that Newegg and Overstock did not infringe on a software patent that allows computers to adapt the shopping websites to their own screen size rather than having a server do the work.
Retail Same-Day Deliveries Now Start At $4, Courier Group Says
Retailer demand for same-day delivery service has pushed prices down to the $4-to-$50 range, according to an industry group for couriers. Another factor: Amazon and its relentless push to drive down its own delivery costs.
