Consumers Use AI To Draft Refund Claims

A June 2026 report titled "Rewriting the Rules on Returns," commissioned by Riskified (NYSE: RSKD) and conducted by eTail Insights, surveyed 2,091 consumers across seven countries (51% US, 14% UK, 12% Japan) and interviewed senior leaders at major retail and e-commerce brands. The central finding: 50% of consumers report using AI tools such as ChatGPT or Claude to draft return or refund claims. Retail leaders interviewed say AI-drafted messages produce "highly convincing return requests" that are overwhelming their review teams. Riskified notes that between 32% and 49% of consumers across surveyed markets already say they prefer AI for initiating a return or exchange, suggesting the 50% adoption rate may continue to climb.

85% of consumers accept at least one type of strategic or borderline return practice as normal - only 15% say they prefer to adhere strictly to merchant policies. Specific behaviors: 46% say it is acceptable to return an item because it looks different in person than it did online; 42% practice "bracketing" - buying multiple sizes or colors to try at home, intending to return most of them; and 24% say it is acceptable to wear or use an item before returning it. Social media is a normalizing force: over half of consumers report encountering return-related "life hacks" on social platforms. For context, a separate 2024 Riskified survey found 51% of consumers admitted to bracketing specifically - a narrower metric than the broader 85% who now accept at least one form of strategic return behavior in 2026.

Retailers are tightening policies in direct response. Practices reported include narrowing acceptable return reason categories (in some cases from over ten categories to five), shortening return windows, requiring returned items be completely unopened and unused, and beginning to deploy AI-powered behavioral detection to distinguish loyal customers from policy abusers. Riskified frames the shift toward identity-based, tiered return policies as the emerging standard - an approach 56% of consumers say they prefer over uniform policies. Zappos is cited as an example of a merchant maintaining liberal free-return policies despite the broader trend.

Despite normalizing certain strategic behaviors, consumer sentiment is not uniformly anti-merchant. 52% of consumers support stricter return policies, and more than 60% say they would adjust their behavior if they better understood the true cost of returns. "The democratization of generative AI has fundamentally changed the returns landscape. When half of consumers are using AI to draft highly persuasive refund claims, manual reviews simply cannot keep up," said Jeff Otto, Chief Marketing Officer at Riskified. "To protect margins without alienating top shoppers, retailers need the ability to provide differentiated return experiences, accurately and at scale."

For practitioners building fraud-detection systems: monitor Riskified and competitor platform updates on identity-based return scoring and behavioral signals specific to AI-generated claim text. Track whether the 50% AI adoption rate for return claims continues rising in follow-up surveys, and watch for merchant disclosure of new AI-detection tooling in their returns workflow.