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By Anna Wells From ThomasNet According to NBC News, a Japanese startup called Vaak is using artificial intelligence software to help retailers ferret out shoplifters before they leave the store … and perhaps even before they grab the goods. The “Vaakeye” technology is designed to work with a standard surveillance system to help identify behaviors that may constitute “suspicious activity.” Vaak CEO Ryo Tanaka told NBC that this could include facial expressions, gestures, and movements — even clothing choices. If someone sets off an internal alert, the idea is for the store to dispatch personnel for a quick check-in. And while Vaak says its tech reduced shoplifting incidents by 77% in tests, the idea of using technology to solve the problem is not without controversy. Sven Dietrich, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told NBC that these kinds of deep learning algorithms are only as good as the data used to train them and “might be extracting a certain bias.”

From the US Census Bureau A repository of information describing database attributes. The dictionary contains an identification section to describe record codes, geographic area codes, area characteristics, and special area codes, plus endnotes and a table (matrix) section. Disclosure In accordance with federal law governing census reports (Title 13 of the United States Code), no data are published that would disclose the operations of an individual establishment or business. In cases where the data must be withheld, the following symbol appears in place of the data: D : Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual companies; data are included in higher level totals Employment Ranges Used when the sales and other data must be withheld due to disclosure, but a range for the employment data can be shown. The following symbols are valid: a : 0 to 19 employees b : 20 to 99 employees c : 100 to 249 employees e : 250 to 499 employees f : 500 to 999 employees g : 1,000

By Lucy Koch From eMarketer Most US consumers expect to get a tax refund this year, and they plan to stick their windfall in the piggy bank. A February 2019 survey from the National Retail Federation (NRF) showed that nearly two in three US adults said that they expected a tax refund this year, and half of those respondents said they planned to save it. That was in line with trends the NRF has seen since 2012, when plans to save became more common than paying down debt. Consumers’ reasons for saving varied—40.4% of respondents to the Valassis survey said that they planned to put their refund toward an emergency fund, while others were saving for bigger-ticket purchases like home improvements or furnishings (19.1%), vacations or experiences (15.2%) or a car purchase or auto-related expense (8.7%).

From Avalara Understanding where your company has nexus is an integral part of your sales tax compliance strategy because nexus dictates where your business is required to collect and remit tax. There are a lot of business activities that can cause your business to have nexus, but one is getting a lot of attention from states right now because it was at the forefront of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) case South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. Sales tax nexus is the connection between a seller and a state that requires the seller to collect and remit tax on sales made in that state. Historically, nexus was based on physical presence. After the Wayfair decision, nexus can now also be established based on economic activity. If you have sales tax nexus in California and Texas, for example, you must collect and remit sales tax in California and Texas. Unfortunately, you can’t just figure out where you have nexus today and forget about it — you must closely monitor nexus on an

Article by Lucy Koch From eMarketer Earlier this month, Philadelphia passed a bill rendering cashless stores like Amazon Go and Sweetgreen illegal and banning future establishments from completely abandoning cash. By July 2019, most retailers in the city will be required to offer consumers a cash payment option... “The number of completely cashless businesses are few and far between, and research has shown that cash is still a preferred payment method for many shoppers in the US,” said eMarketer forecasting analyst Cindy Liu. An October 2018 survey from Pew Research Center showed that 70% of US adults used cash last year for at least some of their purchases during a typical week. Separately, 60% of US internet users polled by Cardtronics said that cash was the most available payment method for everyone, and another 90% viewed cash as essential to those without checking or savings accounts.

By MARK SULLIVAN From Fast Company Facebook’s Instagram photo-sharing app has become a hotspot for brands, and a hotspot for consumers who want a sort of digital window shopping experience. Today, Instagram sweetened the deal by adding a checkout feature to the app so users can buy stuff they see in their feed without ever having to leave Instagram... Instagram says its users have been sending strong signals that they want to be able to shop inside the app. The company says 80% of its users actively follow a brand or brands on Instagram. And 130 million users are interacting with shopping posts on Instagram every month, Instagram product management lead Ashley Yuki told me. “We started building this last year, but before we even did anything people were trying to shop for products on Instagram,” she said. The on-Instagram checkout feature is currently a closed beta, so only a small group of 20 brands will get it at first. They include Adidas, Burberry, H&M, Micheal Kors, Nik

By Lyndsey Matthews From AFAR The rules are about to change. Starting on January 1, 2021, all U.S. citizens who want to travel to the 26 members of Europe’s Schengen Zone will need to register with the European Travel Information and Authorization System (ETIAS) or risk being turned away at the border. The new travel authorization applies to those entering any member country of Europe’s Schengen Zone. Currently, that includes 22 countries that are also members of the EU, four non-EU countries, plus three European micro-states. That means that you’ll need to register starting in 2021 to enter Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. The micro-states of San Marino, Vatican City, and Monaco will also require the registering. Through an online system on etiasvisa.com , a tr