SASE in Retail | Secure, Compliant, and Agile Connectivity for Modern Retailers
Retail is evolving faster than ever. Cloud adoption, omnichannel engagement, and digital operations are now critical to daily business, yet many retailers are constrained by outdated networks and siloed security tools. SASE in Retail offers a smarter path forward — delivering secure, agile, and resilient connectivity across stores, point-of-sale (POS) systems, and cloud platforms. With Cato’s SASE Cloud, retailers can simplify IT operations, cut costs, and meet strict PCI DSS compliance requirements, all while protecting customer data and enabling rapid store expansion.
Retailers’ Key Challenges
Despite innovation across retail, many IT teams remain tied down by legacy infrastructure:
Downtime is expensive — if a POS terminal goes offline, a single store can lose up to $855 per hour in revenue. Yet many retailers still depend on rigid MPLS or unmanaged broadband, which can’t guarantee the uptime or flexibility modern operations demand.
Cyber risk is rising — as endpoints, IoT devices, and cloud services multiply, the attack surface expands. In fact, 53% of retailers report reputational damage from cyberattacks, underscoring the urgency of unified, proactive security.
Compliance pressure — PCI DSS and other regulations require consistent, provable data protection. Fragmented security tools and manual processes make maintaining compliance time-consuming and error-prone.
High IT costs — 58% of retail IT budgets are spent maintaining legacy systems, leaving little room for innovation or new store rollouts.
Modern Retail IT Requirements
To keep up with digital transformation, retailers need more than just uptime — they need a network built for speed, agility, and security. Legacy architectures can’t deliver the seamless experiences today’s customers expect. Modern retail IT must power fast store expansion, cloud-first operations, and compliance without piling on cost or complexity.
Retailers need three critical capabilities:
Scalable Operations
Retail IT must be able to scale quickly for new store openings, seasonal peaks, and omnichannel growth. With centralized visibility and simplified operations, retailers can cut manual work, reduce IT overhead, and make rollouts repeatable, fast, and cost-effective.
Always-On Connectivity
Every second counts at the point of sale. Retail success depends on high-performance, low-latency connectivity to POS systems, inventory applications, and cloud services. Always-on networking ensures real-time inventory tracking, seamless payments, and uninterrupted customer experiences.
Security & Compliance
Protecting customer data and ensuring PCI DSS compliance are non-negotiable. Security must be built-in, not bolted on — consistently applied across every location and every device. With proactive threat prevention and unified policy enforcement, retailers can secure sensitive data while avoiding costly breaches or fines.
Retail IT Concerns
So what’s holding retailers back from digital transformation? The answer is clear: legacy infrastructure. Outdated networks and siloed tools make it harder — and more expensive — to keep up with customer expectations. IT teams are stretched thin, managing disconnected systems that don’t scale, leaving retailers exposed to downtime, delays, and risk.
Here are the three biggest challenges:
IT Bottlenecks
Store rollouts stall when IT has to ship, configure, and manage hardware at every new location. This old model doesn’t scale. It slows down expansion, increases costs, and makes growth dependent on adding more staff instead of simplifying operations.
Disrupted Operations
Legacy networks are unreliable. Performance issues, latency, and outages directly impact POS systems, slow down transactions, and hurt customer experiences. During peak sales periods, even a short downtime can result in major revenue losses and reputational damage.
Security Gaps
Retailers often juggle a patchwork of tools that don’t talk to each other. This creates blind spots, inconsistent policies, and weak points that attackers can exploit. Without unified control, securing customer data, third-party access, and remote staff is nearly impossible — putting PCI DSS compliance and brand trust at risk.
SASE Core benefits for Retail
Retail IT leaders need a smarter way to scale, connect, and secure their environments — without the delays and overhead of legacy infrastructure. SASE in retail delivers exactly that: agile scalability, resilient connectivity, and consistent security.
Agile Scalability
With a cloud-native SASE platform, retailers can open new stores faster and scale operations on demand — all from a single, centralized console. Zero-touch provisioning, simplified management, and full visibility replace heavy on-site hardware and siloed point solutions. The result: faster rollouts, lower overhead, and leaner IT operations.
Resilient Connectivity
SASE provides low-latency, high-performance networking across distributed stores, cloud apps, and data centers. A global private backbone, WAN optimization, and SLA-backed availability (up to 99.999%) keep POS systems and digital operations running smoothly — ensuring fast, reliable transactions and seamless customer experiences, even during peak demand.
Consistent Security & Compliance
Retailers face growing cyber risks and strict PCI DSS requirements. SASE builds security into the network itself, delivering a unified stack across all users, stores, and cloud environments — without hardware. Features like captive portals and segmentation minimize exposure, while centralized policies simplify compliance and protect sensitive customer data at scale.
Simplifying & Securing Retail IT: From Store to Cloud with SASE
So what does this look like in practice? In a typical retail store, employees rely on POS and inventory systems, customers connect to guest WiFi and self-checkout, and cloud apps power loyalty programs, supply chains, and daily operations. Each of these touchpoints needs fast, secure access to the wider business — whether that’s the cloud, headquarters, or remote teams.
Traditionally, retailers have tried to manage this with a patchwork of tools and appliances: SD-WAN for connectivity, firewalls for security, ZTNA for remote access, and separate systems for guest WiFi. The result? A complex, fragmented network that’s expensive to run, difficult to scale, and prone to blind spots.
With SASE in retail, everything is converged into a single, cloud-native platform. Networking and security are unified, policies are consistent, and IT teams gain centralized visibility across every store, user, and application — simplifying operations while ensuring compliance and resilience.
Why Retailers choose SASE
So, why do retailers adopt SASE for retail IT? Because it delivers what both business leaders and technical teams need most: agility, security, and simplicity at scale.
For Business Leaders
Faster Time to Revenue – SASE accelerates store openings and omnichannel growth by removing delays tied to hardware shipments, manual setup, and disconnected tools. With a single, cloud-native platform, retailers can roll out new locations, digital services, and revenue streams much faster.
Security, Compliance & Brand Protection – Built-in, end-to-end security reduces the risk of breaches, PCI DSS violations, and reputational damage. Consistent policy enforcement safeguards sensitive customer data and helps protect brand trust.
For IT Practitioners
Operational Control & Security – Retail IT teams gain centralized visibility across all stores, apps, and users. With one platform, they can enforce policies, troubleshoot in real time, and manage compliance — eliminating the burden of juggling siloed systems.
Resilient Performance – Using a global private backbone, SASE ensures low-latency, always-on connectivity for POS, cloud apps, and digital channels — critical for seamless transactions and customer experiences.
Rapid Store Deployment – Zero-touch provisioning and repeatable templates make it possible to bring new stores online in minutes. No on-site IT required, no specialized hardware installs — just fast, scalable expansion.
👉 Only SASE unifies connectivity, security, and zero-touch deployment in one platform — helping retailers scale faster, protect customer data, and simplify operations.
Why Technology Focus Group for Retail SASE
At Technology Focus Group, we help retailers modernize their IT infrastructure with Cato’s converged SASE platform, tailored to the unique demands of distributed stores, omnichannel growth, and PCI DSS compliance.
We provide:
End-to-End Expertise – from solution design to deployment, tailored to retail’s unique IT and compliance requirements.
Hands-On Support – ongoing management, optimization, and troubleshooting to keep store operations always running.
Certified Knowledge – vendor-accredited engineers with deep SASE expertise across security, networking, and compliance.
Future-Ready Partnership – flexible, scalable solutions that grow with your retail footprint and digital transformation goals.
Transform your network with SASE
Stronger security. Faster performance. One platform