What is Fingerprinting?

Easily implemented at the point of sale or shipping, Entrupy Fingerprinting is a customer-friendly and accurate way to ensure the product returned is the same as the product shipped.

The value of Entrupy Fingerprinting goes beyond return fraud detection. It’s also a simple-yet-powerful way to safeguard the supply chain from intrusion of fraudulent items. It can be implemented anywhere and is applicable to any component at stage, from manufacturing to distribution and beyond

Why is it beneficial for retailers? 

Entrupy Fingerprinting can easily be added to your loss prevention measures to provide an invisible layer of protection against fraudulent returns and erroneous restocking. By adding it to your inventory control processes, you’re providing your customers with a powerful demonstration of your  commitment to ensuring the authenticity of everything you sell.

We all know that product experts are few and far between, and that makes the returns process easy for bad actors to exploit. Entrupy Fingerprinting can also serve as the ultimate product expert, enabling retailers and distribution to accurately verify that the item returned is the same as the item sold. 

Lastly, Entrupy Fingerprinting helps improve the customer experience by enabling faster returns. The high risk of return fraud leads many retailers to implement slow and inefficient verification methods, ultimately causing delays in refunds. Entrupy Fingerprinting provides instant confirmation of a product’s identity, enabling immediate processing while ensuring counterfeits can’t penetrate the supply chain.

Counterfeit Returns: In this scenario, a bad actor will purchase a high-value product, such as a designer handbag. After receiving the item, they will request a return for refund, however they will return a copy of the item instead of the original.

The result – the bad actor gets to keep the bag while also getting a refund for the purchase. The retailer may discover the item is a counterfeit and absorb the loss. Alternatively, the retailer may NOT realize the item is a fake and restock it. In this case, they may ultimately inadvertently sell the fake to an unknowing, innocent purchaser. 

Product Swaps: In a process similar to counterfeit returns, this form of return fraud is often seen with items such as consumer electronics. In this scenario, the bad actor buys, or possibly rents, a high-value item such as an iPhone. Like the previous case, the buyer will return a different item. This could be a non-working or inferior version of the same product or even an older version of the product. The result is the same: The customer keeps the item they purchased and the retailer absorbs the loss.

How do I use Fingerprinting? 

Fingerprinting works with the existing workflow. All the retailer needs to do is:

• Pre-sale product registration: Before or during the sale, simply scan the item using Entrupy’s device. In approximately 3 to 5 seconds, that item is forever recorded in Entrupy’s cloud database.

• Post-sale return verification: If the customer attempts to return a product, simply re-scan the item. Entrupy’s algorithms compare the item you have in hand against the registered Fingerprint image. If the product is the same, the Fingerprint will match. If it’s not the same item, then it 

What is the accuracy of Fingerprinting? 

Entrupy’s Fingerprinting works with near-100% accuracy. Additionally, items registered with Entrupy Fingerprinting are covered by our financial guarantee. 

What materials and product categories are supported by Fingerprinting? 

Fingerprinting works across a broad range of product categories including designer bags/accessories, sneakers, apparel, watches, electronics and wines/spirits. 

How much does it cost to use Fingerprinting? 

Entrupy offers flexible pricing based on the monthly volume of products that you sell. Do reach out to sales@entrupy.com with your monthly volumes to get a compelling quote. 

Who are the retailers using Fingerprinting? Globally, there are several retailers, luxury rental businesses, e-commerce players of different sizes who are successfully using Entrupy’s Fingerprinting solution. See one of the case studies here.