Ecommerce loss prevention plans: what 14 major retailers are planning for the next 12 months

E-commerce fraud tactics are evolving fast. But so are the strategies of the teams fighting them.

When 26 senior retail loss prevention and fraud leaders from 14 major retailers sat down together at the 2026 ECR Retail Loss Ecommerce Loss Innovation Summit, one theme dominated: the shift from reactive loss handling to proactive, data-driven fraud prevention. That shift is well under way, and it is delivering measurable results.

The summit, hosted by Steve Teatum, Head of Group Loss Prevention at Next brought together fraud, loss prevention and operations leaders from C&J Clark, Currys, Dunelm, Frasers Group, Halfords, JD Sports, John Lewis Partnership, LEGO, Marks and Spencer, River Island, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Very Group and TJX Europe, alongside academics from Griffith University, the University of Leeds and the University of Lincoln.

So what did they agree on? And what should every e-commerce loss team be thinking about right now?

Three priorities for the next 12 months

When asked to identify their top e-commerce loss projects for the year ahead, the expert group agreed on three consistent themes:

1. Smarter and earlier detection. Retailers are investing in AI, richer data and real-time decisioning to spot fraud earlier and more accurately. Manual reviews can be too slow for the volume and speed of modern e-commerce abuse. The direction of travel is clear: let AI tools identify and handle the pattern recognition, to free up human expertise for the harder calls.
2. Increased automation. Several retailers described plans to remove manual processes from returns handling, refund approval and claims management almost entirely. The goal is not just efficiency: it is consistency. When every claim follows the same processes, it becomes far harder for repeat abusers to exploit gaps between teams or channels.
3. Integrated systems. The single biggest frustration in the room was fragmented data. Too many retailers still lack a single view of the customer across online, in-store, marketplace and delivery channels. Building that connected view, so that (for example) a wardrobing pattern spotted online can be linked to a returns pattern in store, is the priority that underpins the other two.

What the best teams are already doing

Some retailers are building omnichannel loss prevention capabilities from scratch: hiring dedicated teams, defining KPIs and making the case to the board for the first time. Others are much further along, deploying multi-layered proactive approaches to fraud and losses with processes that combine policy, data and enforcement.

Others are building bespoke investigation tools in-house to guide teams towards the highest-value cases. They’re setting out to train customer service teams in how to spot and prevent suspicious behaviour, not just to issue refunds on request. Returns incentive schemes for store teams are proving particularly effective at reducing wardrobing. And dynamic refund programmes, where the refund value reflects the true resale value of the item rather than the full purchase price, are also gaining in traction. Adding a bit more friction to the process seems to be effective at reducing abuse.

The common thread discussed by these leading retailers is that reducing ecommerce losses cannot rely on technology projects alone. The most successful innovations combine process redesign, people development and smarter use of data. The retailers making the most progress are the ones treating e-commerce loss as a cross-functional capability, not a fraud team silo.

Where online meets the shop floor

One of the summit’s most valued sessions took the group out of the meeting room and into three stores at Fosse Park in Leicester: Next, Currys and M&S. The focus was on the points where online and physical retail collide: BORIS and BOPIS – buy online return in store and buy online pick up in store, with a particular focus on self-service returns.

Thanks to the store teams at all three retailers, who gave their time and were refreshingly open about the challenges they face.

The takeaway for any retailer running omnichannel operations was that self-service returns are working well where they have been implemented. Customers like them, and fraud rates are low. But the processes themselves – things like how returns are inspected, how exceptions are flagged, how data flows back to central teams – vary widely. Sharing best practice was a particularly valuable element of the two-day event.

Rapid delivery: the next loss frontier

Professor Michael Townsley from Griffith University presented aspects of his new research under the working title “Groceries in 30 Minutes, Refunds in 30 Seconds,” examining the loss risks specific to rapid and platform-mediated delivery.

His findings suggested that retailers using quick commerce or third-party delivery partners should ask five key questions:

• Are your stock files reflecting what was actually received, or what was expected? Inaccurate records lead to failed picks, substitutions and incomplete orders.
• How strong is your chain of custody from store to doorstep? Control is typically stronger up to the point of store hand-off than at final delivery, and weak doorstep proof enables disputes.
• Can you identify repeat claimants across platforms? In platform-mediated models, visibility of serial abusers is often limited, partly because data is owned not shared.
• Do you know who is actually delivering your orders? Concerns about driver identity assurance and whether the person delivering always matches the credentialled account were raised by several retailers.
• Who owns the loss? When multiple parties are involved in fulfilment, ownership of losses, KPIs and escalation is often unclear.

Several retailers offered to participate in the next phase of this research, which is being led by Professor Townsley’s team at Griffith University. Watch this space.

Innovation: where investment is flowing

In a popular returning feature, four start-ups pitched their e-commerce loss solutions to a panel of retailer judges in a Dragons’ Den format: four minutes each, no slides. The four companies were Measmerize, Pinch AI, SentriStream and Tuhk.

Between them, they covered AI-powered sizing to reduce returns caused by poor fit, post-purchase intelligence to detect and prevent returns abuse, video-based verification for e-commerce fulfilment, and real-time fraud collaboration between merchants and banks. Four different angles on the same underlying problem: how to reduce e-commerce losses without penalising genuine customers.

The view from the room

This innovation Summit was one of the most popular ever organised. Attendees were particularly positive about the shared approach to this global problem.

Steve Teatum, Head of Group Loss Prevention at Next, summed up the spirit of the event, saying “Collaboration is key to tackling ecommerce losses and I’d like to thank the many retailers who attended the 2 day summit to show this level of commitment.”

His views were echoed by Claire Tuck, Fraud and Investigations Manager at John Lewis Partnership, who said: “It was indeed priceless meeting up with like-minded individuals, with similar challenges.” and Grant Shipway, Senior Operational Risk Manager at River Island, who commented: “Collaboration and sharing best practice at its best.”

We would particularly like to thank Steve Teatum and the team at Next for hosting, to the store teams at Next, Currys and M&S at Fosse Park for their time and openness, and to Measmerize, Pinch AI, SentriStream and Tuhk for their Dragons’ Den pitches.

What comes next

The 2027 Ecommerce Loss Innovation Summit is already confirmed for 17-18 March 2027. Host to be confirmed.

In the meantime, the ECR Retail Loss e-commerce loss working group continues to meet regularly to share research, benchmark data and practical solutions. And ECR Retail Loss’s Return Fraud and Abuse report, based on consumer surveys and dark web analysis, is free to download for anyone looking to sharpen their approach to returns fraud.

If your business wants to be part of the conversation, join ECR Retail Loss.