Software helps combat online shopping fraud
Buying clothing, wearing it once or twice, and then returning it is not a new practice, but online shopping has amplified the issue. To stay competitive with e-commerce giants, retailers have had to simplify their return processes, making them more vulnerable to abuse. 鈥淎mazon puts pressure on speed of delivery and the customer always being right,鈥 says Charles de Brabant, Executive Director of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management. 鈥淩etailers need to ship faster and have longer return policies.鈥 More than two-thirds of online shoppers admit to the practice, up significantly from just a few years ago. But new technologies are helping retailers get in front of the problem. The software Two Boxes tracks who is returning items and whether those items have telltale signs of being worn, like small debris in shoe treads or a faint perfume scent. This allows companies to block customers who repeatedly wear and return clothing.
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