Software can flag fraud, but only people can change how departments work.
A veteran asset protection manager at a large retailer spent years managing returns fraud and financial fraud initiatives across 2,000+ stores.
During that time, they discovered that the biggest obstacle to fraud prevention wasn’t the bad actor themselves, it was getting executives to understand today’s rising retail threat: receipted returns.
Executives believe receipts guarantee transaction legitimacy, while sophisticated fraud methods exploit that exact blind spot. The AP manager discovered that fraud education is now publicly accessible, with fraudsters teaching each other through online communities.
“You can go on Reddit right now and type in any retailer plus ‘receipted returns’. And within an hour, you’d be a subject matter expert as it relates to how to defraud that place within the receipted world.”
The scale and accessibility of fraud education meant traditional security-focused presentations no longer worked. Most asset protection teams present fraud prevention as a security function. The successful ones position it as a business unit that drives profitability across multiple departments.
Data shows the financial impact of receipted returns fraud, but executives still hesitate. The worry about losing legitimate customers or damaging sales persists even when the numbers tell a different story. Retailers see the problem but don’t intervene. The concern makes sense, until you realize that enforcing return policies doesn’t drive customers away. It protects margin, maintains consistency, and stops bad actors from exploiting good ones.
Key Takeaways:
- Executive resistance stems from isolated customer complaints that leadership remembers more vividly than positive fraud prevention outcomes
- Regional variations demand localized approaches even within single states, where customer behavior differs significantly
- Earnings call visibility creates natural momentum for fraud prevention by expanding conversations beyond asset protection to multiple business units
Executive Buy-In Starts With Breaking Assumptions
Retail executives assume receipted returns are automatically safe transactions. This misconception severely limits prevention effectiveness while maintaining false security about transaction safety.
This asset protection manager spent years confronting this assumption through education and evidence. During implementation conversations, emotional resistance from leadership often stemmed from isolated customer complaints that executives remembered more vividly than comprehensive fraud prevention data.
“They may only experience a complaint like that once or twice a quarter, maybe even a year depending on who it is. But they are missing context. So when a customer sends a complaint after a denied return, that’s what they remember about our returns fraud solutions.”
This creates a decision-making environment where single anecdotes outweigh statistical evidence. Executives lack the broader perspective showing that customer escalations represent a tiny fraction of total return volume.
The AP manager learned to reframe the conversation entirely, moving from reactive discussions about denied customers to proactive communications about comprehensive margin protection. Rather than defending individual fraud cases, they demonstrated how receipted fraud patterns were eroding profitability across the business—creating shrink, reducing sales, and draining cash flow simultaneously across departments.
The Five-Phase Rollout That Secures Enterprise Buy-In
Successful fraud prevention scales through deliberate progression—from single-district proof of concept to organization-wide deployment. The AP manager developed this process through trial and error across hundreds of stores.
Start With Regional Assessment and Proof of Concept Selection
The AP manager typically starts with a single district or region to generate measurable ROI quickly but emphasizes understanding local market dynamics before expansion.
“We are one big company, but no one district, no one region is the same. In a single state, customers shop very differently between regions. Their customers interact with the business very differently.”
Working closely with solution providers like Appriss, retailers can identify optimal testing parameters and success metrics tailored to regional characteristics.
“Every great idea that we have, Appriss is the first person on the phone. ‘Hey. What do you guys think about this? Can we make this work?'” they say.
The AP manager maintains ongoing communication with technology partners to refine implementation strategies.
Design Associate Education That Emphasizes Service
Create training materials that focus on customer service rather than fraud detection. The AP manager notes that employees at the register are the first line of defense against escalations.
Training must address the reality that associates in different locations face dramatically different fraud exposure. An associate who works returns in an urban market might see several fraudulent attempts per hour, while someone in a different market may encounter far less.
Universal training must accommodate these vastly different operational environments.
Expand to Multi-Regional Pilots With Localized Approaches
Move from proof of concept (district level) to pilot (regional level) while collecting specific metrics on customer escalations, override usage, and business impact for executive reporting. Account for regional variations by customizing implementation approaches rather than using universal policies.
Even neighboring regions require different operational approaches despite maintaining consistent corporate standards. This phase builds the comprehensive data set needed for executive storytelling.
Develop Executive Storytelling That Emphasizes Broad Business Impact
Create narratives that counter individual customer stories with statistical context. The AP manager learned to reframe the conversation entirely, moving from reactive discussions about denied customers to proactive communications about comprehensive margin protection.
The AP manager’s most effective presentations included direct data from Appriss. What previously required multiple system searches and lengthy explanations became a simple screenshot showing comprehensive customer behavior patterns.
Implement Override Systems Enterprise-Wide
Roll out built-in override capabilities and clear escalation paths across the organization to maintain executive comfort while still achieving fraud prevention goals. The AP manager recommends introducing override capabilities that allow local leaders to intervene when situations warrant flexibility.
This capability serves dual purposes: it maintains the retailer’s customer-first culture while providing a pressure release valve that prevents executive escalations. Through Appriss, the AP manager implemented a dispute portal that offered customers straightforward resolution options.
How to Build Cross-Departmental Momentum
The most significant outcome for the AP manager’s team came from expanding the conversation beyond asset protection to impact multiple business units. Rather than positioning fraud prevention as a loss prevention initiative, they demonstrated relevance to loyalty programs, store operations, and profitability discussions.
“Where we’ve seen a lot of the more recent momentum is making it a bigger discussion outside of just AP. So how can we show what this product or that product or this fraud solution, how can it impact our other business programs?”
This conversation gained additional momentum when shrink became a discussion point on the retailer’s earnings calls. C-level visibility created natural organizational interest in solutions that previously competed for limited departmental budgets.
The AP manager’s success demonstrates that comprehensive fraud prevention requires both sophisticated technology and strategic positioning. Technology platforms like Appriss provide the data foundation that makes these conversations possible, consolidating previously siloed information about customer behavior into unified profiles that executives can immediately understand.
Results That Drive Executive Attention
When the AP manager’s team implemented returns fraud solutions, they achieved measurable shrink reduction and maintained customer satisfaction scores, gaining executive attention through earnings call visibility and cross-departmental buy-in.
Build the proof of concept. Document the regional variations. Train associates in customer service. Show executives the comprehensive business impact. Create the override systems that maintain your culture.
The conversation you need to have is about enabling business growth while protecting profitability (and receipted returns are a bigger part of that than you think).
