Retailers have made their online return policies more lenient than ever in an effort to attract shoppers and increase sales. However, this has led to an increase in fraudulent returns, costing companies billions of dollars. With more consumers shopping online and returning items, retailers are cracking down on fraud, including returning different items, stolen items, or falsely claiming items were never delivered. According to a survey by Appriss Retail and the National Retail Federation, retailers estimate that $101 billion worth of returns were fraudulent last year, accounting for 13.7% of all returns. During the holiday season, this percentage increased to 16.5%, totaling $24.5 billion. Despite this, many retailers are still extending return windows for holiday purchases, leading to an influx of returns and increased fraud.
2024-01-29 19:19:53
Original from www.cnbc.com