law enforcement
Participate in the ECR Community research project on omni-channel returns
Shoppers love “click & collect”: they can order their favourite items online and then collect, at a time that suits them, from their nearest store, saving them money and time waiting in for a delivery. And if they change their mind, then rather than waiting around for their returns to be collected, they can simply drop them off at the store at a time that best suits them. So what the shopper sees is a great new service at their convenience. However, from the point of view of the operators, loss prevention and finance chiefs, there is complexity, risk, loss and cost, which will all be on an upward trajectory as “click and collect” grows in popularity.
A recent news article also reported on the problems that returns cause to retailers: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37711091
To gain a greater understanding of omni-channel returns complexities and suitable mitigation strategies, the ECR Community Shrink & OSA Group have commissioned Professor Lisa Jack and Dr Regina Frei, of the University of Portsmouth (UK), to lead some critical new research to:
a) create a framework that would help the loss prevention team articulate to others the complex nature of this new capability,
b) to quantify, with benchmark data, the scale of the possible problems, and
c) create some practical tools (in the forms of a checklist, set of best practices, techniques, etc.) that the loss prevention team can use in their business to inform others and reduce their organisations’ vulnerability to inventory discrepancy, theft and fraud, and improve re-integration of products into the supply chain.
Participating in this research will not carry any cost to the retailer other than the time needed to meet with the researchers on site to share experience, data, ideas and predictions. A series of 6-8 interviews of 1-2 hours are foreseen for case studies. Alternatively, retailers may participate in a phone survey that only takes 20 minutes.
Note that all shared data and information will be handled confidentially and the participating retailers’ identities will be kept anonymous.
If you are interested in participating in this research project, please contact Colin Peacock at colinmpeacock@ecr-shrink-group.com
