Getting Tough On Returns Is Hurting Retailers

Some customers at retailers including Best Buy, J.C. Penney, Sephora, CVS, Advance Auto Parts, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Home Depot and Victoria’s Secret are leaving disgruntled after being denied the ability to return items, in some cases even with receipts, The Wall Street Journal reports. Those retailers and others employ the firm Retail Equation (owned by Appriss Inc.), according to the report. That company uses algorithms to develop a “risk score,” based on consumers’ shopping and return behavior, to help identify fraudulent attempts or serial returners. The value of retail returns last year rose 53% from 2015 to $400 billion, and the growth of e-commerce is stoking that, according to returns and overstock supply company B Stock. Returns of brick-and-mortar purchases tend to hover at 8%, while e-commerce returns can reach as high as 15% to 30%, according to CBRE, which says that likely value of online returns is $32 billion, up from 2016’s estimated $28 billion. Read more at Retail Dive.