Tech
How Retailers Like T.J. Maxx And Home Depot Quietly Target ‘Problem’ Returners
Clarification: Best Buy ended its relationship with The Retail Equation in 2019, according to the company.
It’s no secret that retailers are cracking down on returns.
In 2023, 81% of U.S. retailers implemented pay-to-return policies in some capacity. Amazon, Macy’s, T.J.Maxx, Walmart and Staples all rolled out changes to their established return policies. That may look like shrinking return windows, charging for some returns, or in some cases simply telling shoppers to “keep it”
Shoppers racked up more than $5 trillion worth of retail sales in the U.S. last year, according to the National Retail Federation. About 14.5% of those sales were returned. That equates to an enormous value in returned goods: $743 billion in 2023 alone.
“Most of the returns that come back cost up to 40% of the original retail price to put that item back on the shelf,” said Robert Overstreet, Iowa State assistant professor of supply chain management. “There’s no guarantee they can sell it for what they originally asked for it, so they’re losing money on both ends.”
The recent changes are just the latest effort to tamp down on return losses. Many large retailers in the U.S. have long been engaged in the practice of quietly tracking and targeting return behavior. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. retailers use third-party loss-prevention services to track risky return behavior. This doesn’t outright mean fraudulent activity, but rather behavior that “mimics” or could be linked to such behavior.
The most notable third-party loss-prevention service is The Retail Equation, a software provider that tracks return behavior that retailers deem potentially fraudulent. It then assigns a return score to shoppers based on the data provided by retailers, giving the software the ability to override a store’s return policy, leaving shoppers with no refund and a printed notice directing them to The Retail Equation’s website to explain why their return was blocked.
The problem is, many shoppers are unaware this type of tracking is even happening, leaving many feeling blindsided when they get to a return counter and are told they are not getting their money back. Or, even worse, they get banned from the practice of returning products to the store altogether.
According to several now-dismissed lawsuits and Better Business Bureau complaints, customers reported they were following a store’s return policy and were still issued a warning. Some customers complained the information found on their report given by The Retail Equation was incorrect and that they were left with no way of knowing or remedying the information until after their return was rebuffed.
Watch the video above to hear more about how this tracking works and what types of behaviors might get a shopper flagged as a ‘problem returner’.
Producer: Devan Burris
Editor: Tim Hurt
Animation: Jason Reginato, Christina Locopo
Senior Producer: Jeff Morganteen
Additional footage: Getty Images
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How Retailers Like T.J. Maxx And Home Depot Quietly Target ‘Problem’ Returners
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The minivan has ticked back up in sales in recent years, and is a surprisingly significant share of sales for those still in the segment–Honda, Toyota, Kia, and Chrysler. The Pacifica minivan is the only model line Chrysler sells–something that has led industry watchers to fear the legendary American brand is on its last legs. Chrysler brand CEO Matt McAlear, who also runs Dodge, says more plans will be revealed at parent Stellantis’s investor day on May 21. In the meantime, the minivan is faring rather well, he said. Affordability is a growing concern for many buyers, and a minivan’s average transaction price is about $20,000 dollars less than that of a large SUV in the US. That is a great value for a buyer that needs a spacious vehicle for ferrying passengers or even cargo, say analysts.
Reporting by: Robert Ferris
Editing and Camera: Darren Geeter
Additional Camera: Natalie Rice
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettit
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Stellantis, Toyota
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Why Chrysler Says There Is A Minivan ‘Resurgence’
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SUVs and pickups have really taken over the US car market. But with average vehicle prices so high, some automakers are still selling healthy numbers of sedans and other low-roofed passenger cars. Kia, Toyota, and Volkswagen, among others have kept sedans in the market, and EVs like the Tesla Model 3 are popular. Detroit automakers Ford and GM have hinted they might want back in.
Reporting by: Robert Ferris
Editing and Camera: Darren Geeter
Additional Camera: Natalie Rice
Animation: Jason Reginato, Emily Park
Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Kia, Toyota, Volkswagen
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‘Affordable’ Sedans Are Luring Buyers…Including Young Ones
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Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity across the crypto industry. While Bitcoin itself is considered resilient, the platforms that connect users to their assets may be more vulnerable. AI can scan complex software systems quickly, uncovering hidden flaws and enabling faster attacks. This shift is forcing crypto companies to rethink how they protect their infrastructure.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:40 Anthropic’s Mythos model
3:35 Where crypto is most exposed
4:59 Solutions?
Produced, shot and edited by: Charlotte Morabito
Additional Editing by: Andrea Miller
Additional Reporting by: Tanaya Macheel
Senior Director of Video: Lindsey Jacobson
Additional Footage: Getty Images
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What Anthropic’s Mythos Means For Crypto Security
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Meta has launched Muse Spark, its most powerful AI model yet and the first major product from Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang’s newly formed Meta Superintelligence Lab. The release comes as the company ramps capital expenditures to as much as $135 billion this year, nearly double last year’s spend, raising the stakes for every product that emerges from Wang’s lab. Unlike Meta’s previous open-source Llama models, Muse Spark will be proprietary, with plans to eventually offer paid API access, opening a potential new revenue stream. Meta says larger, more capable models are already in development and that Muse Spark is just the foundation on the road to what Zuckerberg and Wang call “personal superintelligence.” CNBC’s Julia Boorstin explores why this launch is such a big deal for Meta.
Reporter: Julia Boorstin
Produced by: Stephen Desaulniers
Edited by: Andrew Evers
Senior Director of Video: Jeniece Pettitt
Additional Footage: Getty Images, Meta
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Why Meta’s New AI Model Is Such A Big Deal
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Job-seeking impostors, including deepfakes, are exploiting the remote work trend, defrauding U.S. companies and potentially threatening U.S. national security, according to experts.
While fraudulent job seekers can originate from anywhere, fake candidates with ties to North Korea have drawn significant headlines in recent months.
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