ReBound Returns’ analysis reveals £29m losses from retail returns fraud

The data, collected by omnichannel returns absorption steadfast ReBound Returns, is drawn from 1 cardinal returned orders processed connected behalf of its retail clients betwixt July 2025 and May 2026.

The findings item a increasing situation for retailers arsenic instrumentality rates for online income attack 20%, with the worth successful the US marketplace unsocial nearing $850bn.

ReBound Returns has published these results successful its caller report, The Returns Fraud Playbook. The probe indicates that arsenic much consumers instrumentality online purchases, cases of fraud and maltreatment are rising.

According to the Merchant Risk Council, 'refund and returns argumentation abuse' is presently considered the astir communal benignant of fraud faced by merchants. This inclination continues contempt the wide usage of individuality verification, authentication procedures, and risk-scoring systems designed to forestall fraud during the archetypal purchase.

The study identifies a cardinal contented successful that galore retailers refund customers earlier physically inspecting returned goods.

Data relating to returns is often fragmented, being kept separately crossed aggregate platforms, including e-commerce sites, carnal stores, and outer marketplaces.

This deficiency of consolidated accusation makes it hard for operational teams to summation an close overview of each returns enactment oregon to place perchance fraudulent claims effectively.

The study besides models however a humble fraud complaint tin construe into important yearly losses astatine scale. For a mid-market manner retailer with £100m successful yearly sales, a 20% instrumentality rate, and a 5% fraud rate, projected losses could scope £1m per year. For a larger omnichannel retailer astatine the aforesaid fraud rate, the estimated nonaccomplishment rises to £3.5m annually.

At endeavor scale, £960m successful income and a 7% fraud rate, the projected nonaccomplishment reaches £20m each year.

The accusation is straightforward: adjacent erstwhile fraud appears "manageable" successful percent terms, the implicit outgo tin beryllium material.

ReBound Returns merchandise manager Wouter 10 Heggeler said: "The returns process has go a unsighted spot for retailers. Investment successful fraud prevention is focused astir wholly connected the constituent of purchase. Once a instrumentality is initiated, astir retailers are operating without the visibility they request to drawback what is really coming backmost to them. The effect is that galore are absorbing losses they cannot identify, fto unsocial measurement oregon tackle the basal cause."

The probe by ReBound Returns recovered that combining aggregate information points tin assistance retailers observe and analyse imaginable returns fraud. It noted that returns identified arsenic perchance fraudulent typically person a longer pb clip betwixt acquisition and the initiation of a return, with a median pb clip of 18 days, compared to 9.5 days for modular returns.