Early indications are that UK retailers could be seeing soaring losses, especially in the areas of credit card fraud and return fraud, according to a new report due to be released at the Retail Risk event in London this week.
The UK Retail Fraud Survey 2016, sponsored by WIS International, now in its seventh year, is an extensive report into the systems, processes and strategies of the UK’s top retailers.
Sources say that early indications are that retailers could be seeing soaring losses in the areas of credit card fraud and returns fraud for the past year.
Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed involving a payment card as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction while returns fraud involves someone defrauding a retail store via the returns process.
There are various ways in which this crime is committed, including wardrobing or renting, e.g. clothes or a video for a special occasion, returning stolen merchandise, receipt fraud, employees returning stolen goods for full price, price switching and price arbitrage.
The survey allows participating retailers to benchmark, plan for future developments, fight loss and gain competitive advantage in their businesses.”
Steve Simmonds, Head of Sales at WIS International, the UK Retail Fraud Survey sponsor, commented: “We are very pleased to be able to support this important work. I know from my conversations with retailers that the value placed on the Retail Fraud Survey is very high."
It truly provides a unique insight into what issues are emerging in the world of retail fraud and loss prevention, he said, and it allows retailers to both "benchmark their own performance as well as prioritise areas where others are already being challenged".
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
