I went shopping with my wife last night. Well, really we were waiting to pick up my daughter from her job and had time to kill so we went to the clothing retail store next to her store and began browsing. We had a gift to look for but that turned to naught so we went to the nightwear section and she looked through the racks for a particular item she wanted in her size. Well she found the style and color of a pair of pajama pants she liked but she wasn’t positive they would fit properly. I told her we could buy them and if they fit and she liked them she could keep them. If not, as long as we had the receipt we could return them. I certainly didn’t need to tell her this as she has a significant amount of retail experience, but as the husband and the one with the Loss Prevention experience, I felt I needed to reassure her that she would not be committing any retail fraud by trying them on at home. I also told her this because I was tired and ready to go. This experience reminded me that there are those who engage in wardrobing and do commit return fraud. A store like this could benefit from using Alpha Shark Tags on their clothing.
Since I mentioned Alpha Shark Tags I need to describe what they are and how they prevent return fraud. Shark Tags or wardrobing tags as they are sometimes called are different than electronic article surveillance tags. These tags are designed in a bright red and are placed in a highly visible location on clothes. They are not created to prevent theft so they never get de-activated or removed at the store. These devices are removed by the customer when they get home and the customer decides they want to keep the merchandise. The tags have to be cut off and once that is done they can’t be replaced. It also means the store won’t accept the item back for return. This means that there is no more buying clothes, wearing them a couple of times to look like the person has a new outfit, then returning the item with the clothing tags and receipts and getting a full refund…a type of fraud known as wardrobing. The bright color of the Shark tags ensures that if the item is worn in public with the tag still on it other people are going to know the intent is that the item is being “borrowed” and will embarrass the person wearing the garment. I should also mention that Alpha Shark tags do not interfere with the ability to try on clothes at home and if the item doesn’t fit or if it is a gift and the recipient doesn’t like the gift, as long as the tag is intact, the garment can be returned.
As a Loss Prevention Manager I did see multiple questionable returns of clothing as well as obvious attempts at return fraud. The problem was determining what was clearly fraudulent and what was not. The second part of that problem was working with the Manager on Duty to determine if we were going to take an item back and what form of reimbursement would we give. Merchandise that has clothing tags on them and a receipt, even if there were some stains, could be hard to refuse. Everything has the appearance of following the company return policies, minor stains or odors notwithstanding, so to refuse the return is hard. It is a little easier if stains are large or the merchandise is damaged but again if the tags are in place it can be tough because some managers don’t want a confrontation. Clear clothing return fraud is when the tags on the clothes don’t match the product. An example is when a perpetrator has a low end brand of jeans and attaches a store price tag and barcode from a high-end, name brand pair of jeans and takes them to the store to get the higher dollar amount back. If an employee is paying attention this fraud can be caught and the return easily denied. Wardrobing Tags prevent the harder returns because they can’t be reattached so the clothes can’t be worn and refunded.
Don’t be the victim of return fraud, it hurts profits because often the merchandise that is brought back has to be reduced in price or marked out of stock. Wardrobing tags help keep profits up and prices for customers down when they don’t have to pay for the losses through mark-ups on clothing. Oh, and that shopping trip…my wife didn’t buy anything.
Need information on Wardrobing Tags? Give us a call at 1.770.426.0547 now.
