From CNBC:

Retailers have moved to crack down on fraud as more consumers shop online and make return fraud a top concern. An estimated 13.7% of returns worth $101 billion were fraudulent last year, and the cost of processing a return is increasing due to higher shipping costs and rising fraud. Retailers have made it tougher to return items due to these concerns.

Return abuse is common, including practices like “wardrobing” and “bracketing.” It is not considered fraud, but 56% of consumers confess to wardrobing, posing a challenge for retailers. Retailers are making their return policies stricter to prevent abuses by using artificial intelligence and other technology to personalize their return policies and identify and stop fraud before it happens.

Return fraud is hurting honest shoppers as retailers make return policies stricter. Nearly three-fourths of shoppers choose a retailer based on the return experience, but companies like Amazon have started to have more restrictive return policies to lower return costs and incidences of fraud and abuse. Retailers are trying to strike a delicate balance between appeasing customers and reducing return costs and fraud.



Read more: Retail return fraud is rising as consumers send back holiday purchases