QVC and Shop Direct have become the first members of a fraud and loss prevention coalition managed by anti-fraud specialist Transactis, reflecting the growth of fraudulent goods lost in transit claims in online retail.
Transactis’s TRADE data sharing platform, aims to improve merchants’ ability to spot potential fraudsters at any customer touch point and act by enabling them to tap into behavioural data across multiple brands.
A Transactis survey of loss prevention professionals last month showed that 88 per cent see retailers placing a greater focus on fraudulent goods lost in transit (GLIT) claims than they were two years ago, and the same proportion view returns fraud as a similar or greater risk.
And a 2013 report, entitled The Digital Shoplifting Survey, found that fraudulent GLIT claims could be costing UK retailers in the region of £405 million each year with the average operational cost per claim estimated to be more than £40.
According to Transactis, a sister company of Shop Direct, the participation of QVC and Shop Direct brings together customer information from nine million households – equating to 39 per cent of the marketplace. Shop Direct brands include Very.co.uk and Littlewoods.com.
The platform allows participants to identify fraud and loss risk related to order processing, identity verification, goods lost in transit, returns and other related activities. In turn, the firm says it will improve services for legitimate claims.
Dave Webber, product and professional services director at Transactis, said: “There is a very narrow window for a retailer to review an order and decide what action to take. Not only is there the relationship with the customer to consider – for instance, the retailer can’t just wait and see what happens if a delivery goes missing – but there is the cost that further investigation would entail, so there is a real need for the company to have relevant information that enables it to quickly and efficiently assess a situation and prioritise the use of its resources.”
The scheme draws data from individual customers and addresses, and uses data matching techniques to detect fraudsters using multiple identities across several organisations and other tactics for masking dishonest activities. Transactis is urging more retailers to join.
