Promotion abuse has been a problem for years. Consumers like to take advantage of a great offer - and it’s natural that sometimes they’ll go too far, exploiting a promotion rather than staying within its terms and conditions. Some customers, unfortunately, go way too far, abusing the deal by cheating the company. At scale, it can be a costly problem. 

The Pandemic Promo Abuse Problem

During the Covid 19 pandemic, many companies reported that they were seeing an uptick in promo abuse attempts. As economic uncertainty started to bite, and opportunities for events and even social interactions became limited, people wanted to cheer themselves up with purchases - even if they couldn’t really afford them. 

Some retailers reported that promo abuse was starting to cost them more than successful fraud. Companies struggled to find the right balance between providing an optimal customer experience, and preventing abuse at the level where it started to cut deeply into profits.

As things began to ease around the world, many fraud teams breathed in relief. Once things were more normal, the logic ran, promo abuse should stop being such a challenge - one that often lands in the lap of fraud teams, even though the policy level of protection is rarely controlled by the fraud team.

The Gathering Storm

The problem is, although restrictions are easing, other things are adding pressure from different directions. For one thing, the fact that things are opening up in some ways creates new opportunities for abuse, as companies start to use promotions to ease consumers back into attending events and participating in activities that they’ve avoided for some time. 

At the same time, supply shortages and shipping delays around the world are making the logistical process of getting goods into consumers’ hands increasingly complex and unpredictable. Customers wanting to snap up hot items have extra incentive to abuse the system - especially since they may not all be on a financially secure footing. 

All these factors and more are contributing to a scenario where promo abuse is likely to spike even higher than it has done during the last couple of years. 

In this ebook, we analyze which factors are contributing to the threat, and what companies can do to protect themselves - including a handy checklist so that you can check that you’re covering all your bases, when it comes to promo abuse.