RETAIL ENVIRONMENT
Maximise customer service and minimise the potential for loss
The COVID pandemic has dramatically changed the way the customer interacts with retail, and while online growth has always been on the radar it has been significantly aided by this pandemic into double digit growth way beyond that which anyone could predict. With this growth comes a welcome opportunity for customers and retail to diversify, but this is also true for the criminal and even the ordinary customer who through the eyes of desperation sees a way to benefit from a retail process.
Fraud, whichever way you look at it, so maybe the .9% of online transactions thought to be fraudulent, is much higher. With high respect for its customer base, retailers work hard to balance their view of the potential for fraudulent activity and often err on the side of "the customer is always right".
But with limited information available and the volume of queries that do turn out to be fraudulent it would be understandable if customer service teams were overly cautious when faced with a query such as “all the items in my order have not been delivered”, and struggle to assume that this is a loyal customer and there has been a genuine mistake at the picking and packing stage. A likelihood is that operations would readily accept this as a possibility amidst growing volumes and tight delivery commitment schedules.
What is the answer to this growing challenge?
The good news is that the technology in network video exists to provide customer service teams with the information required to turn that assumption into facts that they can work with, enabling them to make a good business decision to either appease the customer or direct towards investigation where the video shows clearly that the product was packed before dispatch.
A dedicated camera is positioned over the packing desks, the packing label is scanned and the meta data of order number, date, time and position is directed into a library and a short video clip of the packing process is attached to that file.
Reporting in the cloud enables remote access and saves on time and travel. A joined-up technology process between warehouse management software (WMS) and network video to differentiate between a fraudulent attempt and a genuine process mistake that can be corrected.
by Graham Swallow, Retail Lead, Axis Communications
For more information about how Axis can help your business, contact Graham Swallow via email: Click here
