Shrink, comprised of shoplifting, employee or supplier fraud, and administrative errors, rose in the U.S. from 1.28 percent of sales in 2013-2014 to 1.97 percent during 2014-2015, based upon responses from common retail respondents who participated in Global Retail Theft Barometer surveys both years. Globally, this compares to 1.42 percent, a figure also up from the previous .94 percent average of all common retailers surveyed the previous year.

Checkpoint Systems Inc., a global supplier of merchandise-management services to the retail industry, has developed EVOLVE-Store, an application for smartphones and tablets that allows for real-time electronic article surveillance (EAS) and retail crime event management.

Online retailers have raised the bar for convenience and fast delivery - and brick-and-mortar retailers are scrambling to keep up. To speed order fulfillment, they are shipping from stores that are closest to customers. To build on their strengths, they are focusing on the in-store customer experience. And to bring more online shoppers into stores, they are providing Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPUS) options. At the same time, they are rapidly investing in additional inventory and store labor to stay competitive.