Return without fraud: ClearSale buys Send4 reverse logistics startup
The Brazilian company, which specializes in online fraud prevention, closed the purchase of the startup Send4, which sells return technology
hat does returning goods have to do with fraud prevention? For digital security company ClearSale, one of the world’s largest e-commerce fraud prevention companies, there is much in common. The Brazilian company closed a few weeks ago the purchase of the Curitiba startup Send4, which sells reverse logistics technology to retailers.
The information was first disclosed to EXAME . Headquartered in Curitiba, Send4 started in 2017 as a platform for buying and withdrawing from physical stores, a service now offered by many major retailers. Over time, the company has evolved to focus on exchange and return logistics, which is still a gap in the market.
The companies do not reveal the value of the business. With more than 18 years of existence, ClearSale has more than 3,000 customers worldwide, most of them in Brazil. Annually, the company avoids more than R $ 1 billion in online fraud. Send4 has over 200 client brands in the return service portfolio, which opened in July 2018. Most companies are in the fashion sector, such as the Brazilian clothing brands Osklen, Reserva, Zinzane and Maria Filó. Clothing companies are among those that most need good logistics for return, since it is more common that clothes or shoes do not serve or are not of the taste of the live customer.
Bernardo Lustosa, president of ClearSale, says that there is a great synergy with Send4, since an exchange process naturally has many loopholes for fraud — the executive points out that there are cases of customers who return an empty box or a counterfeit product. So, in order not to run the risk, companies usually demand a series of guarantees, which makes the return slow and bad for the consumer. “With all the data and security expertise we have, we can make the return process much less exposed to fraud. And this is good for e-commerce as a whole, ”says Lustosa.
In most transactions, the customer only receives a refund or coupon from the store after sending the product back. In countries like the USA, it is common for the customer to receive a refund right away. On the Send4 platform, the idea is to make the return as fluid as possible: the exchange order can be made without the need to call a call center . The customer receives a post code to return the product and also follows the evolution of the process by email. Depending on the retailer, the consumer gets a discount on the next purchase and a faster refund.
This type of facility is common when purchasing a product, but it is still little explored when returning it. “Returning or exchanging a product has to be as easy as buying. If the customer buys alone with two buttons, why return has to be so difficult? “He said in an earlier interview the EXAM the COO and co-founder of Send4, Cristian Trentin.
A survey by Send4 itself showed that 90% of customers who went through the exchange experience would not buy again at stores that hindered the process. But the time to need to offer an exchange service arrives for all companies: 90% of stores that sell on the internet have already had requests for return or exchange of products. Among the reasons, 43% are related to differences in the color and size of a product, 23% are because the product was damaged and 10% because what you received does not match the description or photos on the website.
With a round switching process, companies win, says Send4. Among the client companies, the startup says that for every 100 reais of a voucher offered through the exchange, the customer spends more than 140 reais on new products — what is called in the upsell market , or sales greater than the returned coupon. .
Trentin and the Send4 team continue to lead the company. Lustosa says that, in the coming weeks, part of the ClearSale team travels to Curitiba to outline strategies and share knowledge on anti-fraud practices with the startup, but says that the management remains independent.
Still, there may be a combination of customers from both companies over time. In Brazil, ClearSale is responsible for preventing fraud in more than 80% of all purchases made in e-commerce. Lustosa does not rule out, for example, selling differentiated packages to its customers so that they also use Send4’s exchange and returns solution.
The demand for reverse logistics options and anti-fraud solutions only tends to increase in Brazil as electronic commerce grows. Currently, about 6% of purchases are made over the internet here, and the expectation is to reach 12% in the coming years, according to data from the consultancy eBit / Nielsen. If it depends on the partnership between ClearSale and Send4, switching securely will be easier and easier. Good for the customer — and the fraudulent ones to take care of.
