Staying Secure: Making Returns Friction-Free Year-Round

Last year, global retail e-commerce sales surpassed $4.1 trillion, underscoring the continued growth of online shopping and the critical need for seamless, secure digital experiences. As e-commerce expands, retailers face the increasing challenge of managing returns. With more online purchases comes a higher volume of returns, often accompanied by greater risks of fraud and digital return issues.

The good news? Retailers can take proven steps to navigate these challenges successfully. By prioritizing cybersecurity and optimizing the customer experience, retailers can minimize friction, enhance personalized interactions, and leverage automation and advanced authentication tools — ultimately improving security and streamlining the returns process.

Reducing Customer Friction

As online shopping becomes more convenient, consumer patience is wearing thin. Retailers must create seamless, secure return processes that reduce customer frustration. Whether it’s streamlining return workflows, improving logistics, or optimizing e-commerce platforms to handle high traffic, reducing friction at every touchpoint is essential — from registration and checkout to returns and customer support. Cybersecurity plays a key role in this effort, not only safeguarding customer data but also streamlining authentication processes.

Studies show that ease of use is a top priority for shoppers, with 76 percent of consumers citing it as crucial to their digital experience. This demand for simplicity extends to how they access online platforms, as 75 percent want improvements in how they log into apps and websites. Retailers can meet these expectations by modernizing login processes and simplifying the user experience across the return journey. Ultimately, customers care about how quickly and securely they can complete transactions, not the backend traffic spikes retailers may face.

Related story: Is Preventing Fraud Really Possible in the Era of AI?

Password-Less Authentication

Fraud prevention must be a core component of retailers’ cybersecurity strategies. Cybercriminals exploit peak shopping periods, using tactics such as fake websites, phishing emails, and return label scams to steal customer data. In fact, 87 percent of consumers are concerned about identity fraud and the safety of their personal information online.

Despite these concerns, customers are increasingly frustrated by managing multiple, complex passwords. Many resort to reusing passwords across multiple sites, which significantly increases security risks. Traditional passwords remain a major vulnerability, often leading to data breaches and account takeovers.

To address both security risks and user experience concerns, retailers should adopt password-less authentication. This technology replaces static passwords with more secure, seamless alternatives, reducing reliance on complex passwords — something 89 percent of consumers struggle with — while mitigating fraud risks and enhancing user experience.

Additionally, integrating fraud detection and identity verification tools is crucial for retailers to manage risk and streamline the return process. By automating fraud prevention and offering real-time alerts, businesses can reduce manual intervention, lower operational costs, and deliver a smoother, safer shopping experience.

Retailers can further strengthen customer confidence by tailoring fraud prevention policies to seasonal shopping behaviors and providing continuous fraud alerts and guidance. These measures demonstrate a commitment to security at every stage of the shopping and return process.

Personalization at Scale

In a digital landscape filled with generic experiences, personalization has become a key differentiator for retailers. This is especially important during the return process, where the opportunity to make customers feel valued can turn a one-time interaction into long-term loyalty. By collecting and leveraging customer data across digital channels, retailers can anticipate shopper needs, customize the return experience, and create a frictionless, personalized journey that increases customer satisfaction.

A powerful tool for achieving this is progressive profiling, which allows retailers to gather data incrementally without overwhelming customers. For example, requesting an email address or shipping information early in the return process and following up with a personalized email or unique code helps build rich customer profiles while keeping the experience simple and intuitive.

By integrating personalized profiles across marketing and transactional touchpoints, retailers can deliver a cohesive experience, enhance customer satisfaction, and strengthen brand loyalty. Additionally, tracking real-time interactions enables businesses to present tailored offers and recommendations, increasing revenue and deepening customer relationships.

Prioritizing Security and Customer Satisfaction

Retailers must strike the right balance between security, convenience and personalization. No retailer wants to alienate customers with a frustrating return experience or leave them vulnerable to cyber threats.

Investing in robust cybersecurity measures and optimizing the return process isn’t just about protecting the bottom line; it’s about building trust, strengthening customer relationships, and safeguarding brand reputation.

Ask yourself: Would you return to a website that made returns difficult and lacked adequate security?

If the answer is no, it’s time to implement the right tools and strategies to ensure your business is prepared to handle returns smoothly and securely — no matter when they occur.

Darryl Jones is vice president, consumer strategy at Ping Identity, leading the Consumer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) solution.