Retailers deploy AI and fees to fight holiday return fraud - Newsday

Everyone's chasing the "perfect" AI strategy while retailers are quietly using it to solve one specific problem: return fraud. No massive overhaul. No enterprise implementation. Just one clear use case with measurable results. I get it. You've sat through webinars that felt more like sales pitches than solutions. The tech world keeps adding complexity when what you really need is clarity on where to start. Here's what caught my attention: Companies like Happy Returns aren't using AI everywhere—they're using it for ONE high-cost problem. Return fraud costs retailers billions. So they deployed AI specifically there. Not across every department. Not rebuilding everything. Just targeting their biggest leak. That's the pattern worth noticing: successful AI adoption often starts with identifying your most expensive problem, not your most exciting opportunity. The retailers seeing ROI asked themselves: "Where is money walking out the door right now?" Then they found an AI tool built for that exact problem. Here's your starting point: Look at your P&L from last quarter. Find your three highest costs. Research if there's an AI tool specifically designed to reduce one of them by 20 percent. That's it. One problem. One tool. Proof of concept. What's the biggest cost in your business that feels like it's just "the way things are"? #AIForBusiness #SmallBusinessAI #BusinessEfficiency #PracticalAI

Everyone's chasing the "perfect" AI strategy while retailers are quietly using it to solve one specific problem: return fraud.

No massive overhaul. No enterprise implementation. Just one clear use case with measurable results.


I get it. You've sat through webinars that felt more like sales pitches than solutions. The tech world keeps adding complexity when what you really need is clarity on where to start.

Here's what caught my attention: Companies like Happy Returns aren't using AI everywhere—they're using it for ONE high-cost problem.


Return fraud costs retailers billions. So they deployed AI specifically there. Not across every department. Not rebuilding everything. Just targeting their biggest leak.

That's the pattern worth noticing: successful AI adoption often starts with identifying your most expensive problem, not your most exciting opportunity.

The retailers seeing ROI asked themselves: "Where is money walking out the door right now?" Then they found an AI tool built for that exact problem.


Here's your starting point: Look at your P&L from last quarter. Find your three highest costs. Research if there's an AI tool specifically designed to reduce one of them by 20 percent.

That's it. One problem. One tool. Proof of concept.


What's the biggest cost in your business that feels like it's just "the way things are"?

#AIForBusiness #SmallBusinessAI #BusinessEfficiency #PracticalAI

Original Source

Companies like Happy Returns are using AI tools to manage return ... Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has ...