Retailers Solution
At last there is a way to deter refund fraud - both
internal and external. Stores have been able to report savings
in excess of £20,000 per month in one store alone: simply
by using a reliable web based system that delivers decisions
directly to the screen!
The Refund Exchange Authorisation software has been developed
with the help of leading Retail Experts, Senior Loss Prevention
personnel, Police Officers who specialise in crime pattern
analysis and authorised fraud investigators.
By asking the customer for three simple pieces of information
that is fed into the system, Refund Exchange generates immediate
knowledge AT THE POINT OF SALE. No other system offers this
information in Real Time while the Refund transaction
is taking place!
The Refund Exchange system operates either as an independent
stand alone unit, or can be integrated into existing EPOS
software.
Collaboration and Clusters
The Refund Exchange system is highly effective when operated
independently.
However, the real strength comes into play when retailers
work together to share refund information.
Retailers operating in Shopping Centres and Retail Malls have
the opportunity to collaborate specific information with other
outlets. This means that the fraudulent claimants will move
their activity to another area.
It has been demonstrated that when one retail outlet starts
to use the system, very quickly, neighbouring stores experience
like for like increase in their fraudulent returns! An excellent
reason to be a part of the regional clusters working together
to prevent refund fraud.
Check under the Events page to see when the next Free seminar
is taking place in your area!
General Overview of System
| Mrs
Smith of 87 High Street, Sheffield makes a return to
a store using the
Refund Exchange refund authorisation system. Instantly
you can see:
-
If 87 High Street Sheffield exists
-
If Mrs Smith is or has been a resident there
-
If Mrs Smith has made any other refunds to participating
stores nationwide
The Refund assistant then views on screen instruction
advising what action should be taken based on the customers
refund history to date. Following a series of prompts
the counter clerk can decide with certainty whether
the refund is genuine or a possible fraud. It also allows
the system to "take the blame" for the decision
rather than relying upon the subjective decision making
of the sales advisor. Options can include calling for
the Manager, Supplying Gift Vouchers, Cash Refund Card
Refund and Refusal.
The system also saves the time of the genuine shopper
and can facilitate a refund when the shopper has no
receipt for the purchase.
Case Study One
One Major Retailer operating the Refund Exchange authorisation
system in two premier stores around Liverpool have shown
major reductions in refunds and huge financial savings
sufficient to prove the return on investment model.
In six months refund transactions were down by 0.9%
( of Sales ) equivalent to £30,000, however with
further training and more in-store awareness refunds
are now down by 2% representing a saving of around £70,000.
|
Report
from a Loss Prevention Manager
In an internal report Steve Williams ( loss prevention officer)
highlights other commercial and managerial benefits as:
-
The Refund system enables more credit notes to be issued
rather than cash refunds and this is saving a total of £1,562
per week.
-
Of 11,107 refunds, management had to attend to only 816
ie 13.5% of all refunds. There are no quantitative figures
prior to the Refund system but there is a general agreement
that there is a reduction in management time attending the
refund desk.
-
The system allows a daily audit of refunds made and within
minutes one can interrogate the system for refunders with
high scores and cross match this to CCTV footage to identify
high refunders (potential fraudsters).
- The
system is now starting to show cross-shoppers between the
two stores using the Refund Exchange authorisation system
- The
system also allows a search by product thus enabling to
look at refunds of products that may have been stolen. A
number of refund fraudsters have now been arrested and the
system provides additional evidence of these peoples refunds
trends thus helping the LP team to initiate preventative
measures at the store to stop these kinds of fraud.
-
The Refund system provides evidence for the police in dealing
with these offenders.
EUROPEAN
RETAIL THEFT BAROMETER III , 2003 reported that “the
cost of Retail Crime in the UK in 2002/2003 was
|
| •
Customer theft
| £
1,956 million
|
| •
Staff theft
| £
1,664 million
|
| •
Supplier theft
| £
184 million
|
| •
Internal error
| £
807 million” |
|
“and
the total cost of shrinkage in the UK in 2002/2003
represented 1.69% of sales – a massive cost
to industry escalating over £2 billion”
|
You
need to know!
As a major retailer, you will know that retail fraud
accounts for a massive reduction in Store profitability.
Ever sophisticated practices are used by customers
and internal staff to take advantage of Your systems.
Refund Exchange has been developed to stop many of
these abuses taking Place.
It is the only system currently available that takes
information from a range of sources and combines these
to give instant decision making to your staff. THIS
IS NOT DATA MINING! IT IS INSTANT INFORMATION GIVING!
Retail crime is becoming more sophisticated every
day and the traditional methods employed to identify
and investigate it require the latest technologies
to keep pace.
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