Card Exceptions
Refund Fraud continues to be a plague on the retail landscape. BAT has a series of almost 30 "canned" or indiustry standard reports as well as the SMART Reports which can be used to create unique reports based on the users desired informational outcome. The "canned" reports actively cull the extraordinary pools of data and extract the individual isolated incidents, cards or employees that require further review. Using proprietary algorithms to corelate and extract, BAT is able to trigger on what would be considered Traditional Fraud Flags and provide a listed report that an investigator or auditor can use as the starting point of a transactional review.
These reports have been proven across the industry to identify and assist in development of mitigation efforts, but also in creating a valuable deterrent through IOC's "Impressions of Control"
Employee Exceptions
Employee exception reports are often viewed as a tool by which to "catch a bad employee". That view is somewhat narrow and takes a great deal away from the value of these reports. These reports can identify "ROCK STARS" as well those employees considered an OPPORTUNITY, whether that is through flawed/failed process or an outright integrity based issue or crime. Understanding the comparatives related to the items listed below is critical:
These reports shine a spotlight that identfies wins and success as much as it identifies outliers of a less favorbale sort.
Location
Location level exceptions have great value in a summary fashion. For instance, locations with higher than average REFUNDS or DISCOUNTS, can be reviewed for cause, which would provide insight and set a path to resolution.
- Is the cause related to the demographic of the location? or
- Is there another cause, possibly an operational opportunity or something more nefarious?
These reports can also be rolled into a REGRESSION REVIEW, assisting Regional or District leaders in understanding and predicting results in key areas. For instance if a Regional or District leader is trying to predict their performance against a TARGET or GOAL for key metrics such as MARGIN or TOP LINE SALES they would be well served looking at the covariants or influencing factors, as sales and margin are outcomes. The influencers that can be considered and are part of BAT reporting would be such things as:
- Shrink
- Operational Audit Scores
- Labor Management
- In Stock Position
- Customer Satisfcation/Engagement
- Operational Audit Scores
These factors would all be things to consider when plotting or predicting metrics such as SALES or MARGIN
CASH Exceptions
Cash exceptions are increasingly important as they lack the audit trail that is left when using a payment card. Cash exceptions dissapear into the ether if not identified and mitigated. BAT uses a series of comparative algorithms that look for a higher percenatge of cash refunds then cash sales, transactions purchased on cards and refunded to cash as well as several other cash refund trigger points. These exception exercises are conducted at both the individual and location level.
Policy Violation Exceptions
Policy violations can have a significant effect on profitability and customer satisfaction. Inconsistent execution of SOP creates uncertainty for customers and staff alike. Applying the standard daily activites as a measure and determining key measures that can be used to gauge success or opportunity is one of the great benefits of the SMART Reports module.
Ranking Reports
Ranking Regions, Districts, Locations and individuals against peers allows for an immediate identification of opportunity areas. The BAT Ranking Reports provide drill down abilities into each metric measured which allows for causal review and mitigation. Looking at ranking reports in a historical view allows for trend identification which ia critical fature to navigating turbulent retail times.
For instance there could be a location which is GREEN in most every category and as such it would not appear to require support or intervention. However when viewed in the aggregate on a historical chart, the same location is seen to have been declining by a few points every period over the past 6.
This trend would give an Operational leader pause for thought and a reason to dig further before the trend became a profitability issue.