Staples

Staples didn't have a great year, so Chairman and CEO Ron Sargent won't accept a $31,000 base pay raise the board of directors had previously approved. The company announced that Sargent wouldn't accept the 2.5 percent pay increase, along with several noteworthy governance moves, including the appointment of an independent chair when Sargent retires.

In an interview with Retail Online Integration yesterday at the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York City, Charlie Larkin, senior director of the GameStop Technology Institute (GTI), discussed why the retailer believes technology and innovation are critical to its future, as well as some of the cool new things GameStop is doing to connect the digital and physical worlds in its stores.  

Staples confirmed on Friday a data breach that may have affected more than 1 million cards. An in-house investigation detected malware at some point-of-sale systems at 115 locations, the company said in a press release. Staples has more than 1,400 U.S. retail stores. About 1.16 million cards may have been affected, the release said. The office supply retailer said it's offering free identity protection services, including identity theft insurance and credit monitoring.

The retail industry is a prime target for fraud and data breaches. One of the reasons why the retail industry is so attractive to fraudsters is because every transaction has the potential to yield multiple types of customer data associated with credit and debit cards, whether it comes from infecting in-store technology or if data is stored elsewhere. Contrary to what you may think, however, brick-and-mortar retailers, which carefully deploy heavily tested and proven point-of-sale (POS) software to handle critical checkout tasks in-store, may be struggling more than online retailers, who have much more frequent updates to their order and payment applications to protect customers’ sensitive personal data and banking information. 

Staples announced last week the launch of its new online platform that will better connect suppliers and customers. Staples Exchange is an option that enables vendors to sell their products directly through the company's e-commerce channels, according to a company news release. Because Staples doesn't require its vendors to use a third party to sell on Staples.com, suppliers can upload products and sell directly to customers without extra cost. The option also allows sellers access to real-time alerts and self-service tools for inventory management.

As consumers go about their holiday shopping this year, they might take notice of the growing number of pop-up stores available to them. Brands are increasingly turning to the temporary retail spaces as an outlet to sell holiday or seasonal merchandise that doesn't warrant being stocked in a store 12 months a year. From big-name retail brands such as Amazon.com (yes, that Amazon!) and Eddie Bauer to smaller local (i.e., mom and pop) stores, it seems as if everyone is jumping on the pop-up bandwagon this holiday season.

It's hard to believe we're less than a month away from Thanksgiving. Over the last few years, retailers have opened their stores earlier and earlier on Black Friday in order to cash in on the holiday shopping frenzy. So much so that Black Friday doorbuster sales have crept — uninvited — into our Thanksgiving dinners. Big-box retailers such as Wal-Mart and Toys"R"Us have gone on record as to how opening on Thanksgiving has increased their sales drastically. But honestly, how in the world did 6 p.m. on Thanksgiving turn into the new midnight for Black Friday sales?

Still scarred from last year's shipping disasters — customers not receiving their orders (i.e., gifts) before Christmas despite being guaranteed they would at the time of purchase — online retailers are taking a more cautious approach to holiday shipments this year. Staples, Macy's, Gap, Pottery Barn, Kohl's and Nordstrom were just some of the brands that broke their Christmas delivery promises last year when carriers UPS and FedEx were overwhelmed with last-minute orders. It seems retailers have learned their lesson and are preparing to avoid a repeat of last year.

Staples is investigating a possible breach of payment card data and has contacted law enforcement about the matter, making it the latest U.S. retailer to become a possible victim of a cyberattack. The office-supply retailer disclosed the investigation after security reporter Brian Krebs reported on his blog Krebsonsecurity.com that several banks have identified a pattern of payment card fraud suggesting that several Staples stores in northeastern United States had succumbed to a data breach.

Staples will shut about 140 locations this year, part of a store-closing plan announced earlier, as the world's largest office-supply chain responds to online competition. Staples shut 80 outlets in North America in the fiscal second quarter. Net income in the three months ended Aug. 2 dropped 20 percent to $82 million, as $101 million was spent on closing locations, the Framingham, Mass.-based company said in a statement today. Expansion by web-based rivals such as Amazon.com has spurred reorganizations across the retail industry, including the merger of stationery suppliers Office Depot with OfficeMax.