Moneris has developed a new service called Verify that aims to help protect large retailers against return fraud.
Moneris Verify is powered by The Retail Equation (TrE), and uses statistical modelling to analyze data to determine if behaviour exhibited at the point-of-return is inconsistent with a retailer's return policy or mimics return fraud. Predictive analytics look for patterns among the different variables in a consumer's return history, including return frequency, time of return, purchase amounts, and others.
The idea is to help reduce instances of various common types of return fraud, including the return of stolen merchandise; shoplisting, which is when a person buys an item, takes it out of the store, then returns and picks up the same item and tries to return it using the receipt for the other; receipt fraud, which includes an old, used, found, or fabricated receipt; price switching, where a lower-priced label is moved to an item, then the item is returned at the original price; and wardrobing or renting, when a person uses a item, then attempts to return it as new.
According to TRE, 4.2% of merchandise returns, on average, are fraudulent, costing Canadian retailers $1.7 billion annually.
"Return fraud is a significant problem in Canada, and we believe through our distribution, Moneris Verify will potentially reduce estimated losses by millions of dollars," says Rob Cameron, Chief Product and Marketing Officer. "Retail fraud takes many different forms, and Moneris Verify is a proven safeguard against fraudulent returns resulting in lost revenue and inventory."
Moneris will be the exclusive reseller of TRE's Verify service in Canada, a solution used by more than 34,000 stores, including 12 of the top 50 retailers in North America.
"We are pleased Moneris has chosen to offer our industry-leading return optimization technology to its wide range of customers in Canada," adds Mark Hammond, CEO, TRE. "The Verify technology is not only effective in reducing return rates and optimizing sales, it enables retail businesses to create a better return shopping experience for the vast majority of consumers making everyday returns."
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