As consumers suffer from buyer remorse this holiday season and return more merchandise than ever before, retailers are scrambling to stop fraudulent returns, which also are up this year, a national report shows.
Nearly 13 percent of retailers said they will tighten their return policy after Christmas to try to curb return fraud, according to a recent study by the National Retail Federation.
The days after Christmas will be an especially busy time for returns as people bring back items that weren’t the right color or size or ones they simply didn’t like.
“Those who think they will be able to get away with manipulating a company’s return policy will be sorely disappointed,” said Joe LaRocca, senior asset protection adviser for the National Retail Federation, the trade organization for retailers. “Retailers have been putting checks and balances in place to prevent people from taking advantage … which raises prices for honest shoppers.”
One of the measures is asking for photo identification with returns, which 62 percent of retailers now require, the annual study shows.