Real-Time Protection from In-Store Return Fraud and Abuse

No matter where your customers shop—online or in-store—Appriss Retail is there to stop fraud and abuse in its tracks. Our omnichannel return and claim authorization solutions use real-time, behavior-based AI models to safeguard your margins while ensuring your good customers get the smooth, hassle-free experience they deserve. Collectively, returns and claims represent millions of interactions—each one an opportunity to shape purchasing behavior, influence your brand, drive net sales, and reduce loss.

The Challenge

Managing returns and claims has become increasingly complex with the growth of omnichannel shopping. Fraud and abuse in returns and claims are significant challenges, costing retailers $685 billion in merchandise in 2024. To address the challenge of limiting fraudulent returns, many retailers turn to stricter return strategies. However, these parameters often create unnecessary friction for legitimate shoppers, making their return experience more difficult and cutting into profits. As consumers expect frictionless returns, especially with Buy Anywhere/Return Anywhere options, traditional methods struggle to keep pace. Without the right technology, retailers risk increased fraudulent returns, making it harder to protect margins and meet customer expectations.

The Impact

Over 50% of consumers have decided not to buy from retailers due to return policies. To remain competitive, retailers need solutions that prevent abuse without alienating their best customers.

The Solution

Appriss® Engage offers a comprehensive approach to protect your profits while ensuring a frictionless omnichannel experience for your best customers. Our AI technology provides a 360-degree view of customer behavior across all channels—online, in-store, and call centers— allowing for accurate identification of fraudulent or abusive patterns. This data-driven approach helps retailers reduce losses in both ecommerce and brick-and-mortar returns, while maintaining a positive customer experience.

The Appriss Linking System helps you make sense of your data by connecting the dots across every transaction. Using artificial intelligence and advanced data models, it ties together purchases, returns, orders, claims, appeasements, credit cards, and more to create a consistent view of shopper behavior.

Engage instantly analyzes the linked transactions and provides recommendations to approve or deny a return or claim, or issue a warning based on guidelines defined by your company.

Key Features of Engage

Flexible Return Parameters: Retailers can confidently offer consumer-friendly return policies without increasing exposure to fraud or abuse.

Behavior-Based Authorization: Engage leverages AI models and statistical models, reviewing individual behaviors to authorize returns, making it highly effective in reducing fraud and abuse.

Real-Time Recommendations: Engage assesses customer behavior and return history, providing recommendations to approve, deny, or warn during the return process. Warnings are often perceived more positively than denials, helping to preserve customer loyalty.