Why Faster Refunds Can Backfire Without Smarter Fraud Controls

Customers expect refunds to be fast, frictionless, and fair. For UK retailers, that expectation is now colliding with a sharp rise in returns fraud, from wardrobing to counterfeit returns.In this CX Today interview, Francesca Roche speaks with Paul Gardner, VP of Product at Appriss Retail, about how retailers can accelerate time to refund without opening the door to preventable losses. Gardner explains why fixed return policies are increasingly vulnerable, how behaviour-based decisioning outperforms one-size-fits-all rules, and why identity and cross-channel visibility are critical to stopping abuse before it escalates.The discussion explores how machine learning and decision intelligence help retailers distinguish low-risk customers from repeat abusers in real time, protecting both customer experience and profitability. Gardner also outlines why returns should be treated as a strategic signal, not a back-office clean-up task, and what changes are needed to make returns management more proactive across retail organizations.