How contact centers are shaping the future of retail e-commerce: Ad moderation and fraud prevention

Retail e-commerce platforms have simplified the buying and selling process. With the tap of a finger, users can upload images, ads, comments, and reviews as either a buyer or a seller. However, with the increase in user-generated content, there has been a simultaneous increase in the risk of fraudulent activities.

Today, fraudsters can take advantage of countless entry points, and an e-commerce platform can quickly become riddled with malicious content. Without the proper moderation of ads and other content, the user experience is disrupted, and security is compromised. This is why companies are turning to contact centers as the ideal solution for preventing fraud while providing outstanding customer service.

In this blog, you will learn what ad moderation is, why it is important, and the risks associated with fraud in retail e-commerce. Find out how contact centers are shaping the future of retail e-commerce by providing improved content moderation and 24/7 customer service.

Ad moderation and fraud prevention: the impact to e-commerce

Ad moderation

Simply put, ad moderation is reviewing an ad's content for inappropriate, misleading, or harmful content before it can reach the public eye. Before the internet, when someone wanted to list an item for sale, they might take out an ad in the classifieds section of their local newspaper. When an ad was submitted, it was reviewed by a person before being placed in the paper. This was the earliest form of ad moderation.

However, with the advent of e-commerce platforms, the process for moderating ads has evolved. Today, users can quickly upload dozens of ads simultaneously, and moderating these ads can become difficult. However, it is an important process to prevent fraudulent activity, malicious content, and offensive materials from flooding an e-commerce site.

In some cases, a small retail platform might try to handle ad moderation manually. This form of ad moderation can be time-consuming and costly. Not only that, but with limited staff available to moderate each ad before it is approved, it can lead to long wait times for users, decreasing customer satisfaction.

In other cases, a platform might try to use an automated process for moderation. However, many automated systems are prone to errors — either missing out on fraudulent activity or flagging genuine content, leading to customer frustration.

Additionally, ads are not the only content that must be moderated. Reviews, comments, and any other form of content that users can upload to a retail platform must also be reviewed for spam, fraud, or inappropriate content. This can quickly become too large of a burden for internal teams to handle. Therefore, many platforms are turning to contact center solutions instead.

The Threat of Fraud in Retail E-commerce

Types of fraud

In addition to the need for ad moderation, e-commerce platforms also need proper fraud prevention. Unfortunately, due to the anonymity of the internet, it is increasingly easy for fraudulent activity to take place on e-commerce platforms. Bad actors can compromise the safety of customers through numerous methods, such as the following:

• Payment fraud: E-commerce platforms can be a prime target for fraudulent transactions, such as payments made with stolen credit cards. Additionally, if user accounts are compromised, these accounts can then be used to make illegitimate purchases.
• Fake reviews and ratings: Fake reviews and ratings designed to deceive potential buyers can flood e-commerce sites. This leads to a distrust in the platform when customers are conned into purchasing subpar or fake products.
• Return and refund fraud: Without the proper procedures in place, return policies can be exploited by fraudsters to gain illegitimate refunds or to request replacement products for items they never purchased. This can severely hurt sellers, causing them to leave the platform.

Consequences of Fraud

When fraud is left unchecked, the consequences are long-lasting and costly. Fraud can lead to financial losses, which in turn translates to a poor customer experience for both buyers and sellers. When customers cannot trust the legitimacy of ads, reviews, and other content on an e-commerce platform, they will stop shopping on the platform, and the brand reputation will be severely damaged. The loss of buyers will also lead to a loss of sellers. In a worst-case scenario, enough fraud on a platform can result in the platform being shut down.

Contact center solutions for ad moderation: agents and AI

Due to the high risk of fraud on retail e-commerce platforms and the complexity of ad moderation, many businesses are turning to contact centers for assistance. Contact centers use a combination of agents and AI to ensure ad and content moderation is efficient and timely.

First, it is important to understand the process and benefits of contact center moderation teams.

These teams are comprised of agents who are trained to provide expertise in ad moderation. Teams understand the complexities of platform regulations, legal requirements, and appropriate site content, allowing them to make informed decisions.

Contact center moderation teams offer 24/7 content review and continuous monitoring. Through the use of a team, content moderation can be scaled to meet the needs of any retail platform without compromising on the quality of the ads, comments, and reviews posted on the site.

Ultimately, the efficient handling of moderation activities leads to improved customer experience. In fact, through the use of the KellyConnect contact center, one online classifieds site was able to increase their CSAT score from 89% to 98.5%. Dramatic increases like this lead to improved customer loyalty.

Paired with contact center moderation teams, most contact centers are now employing the use of AI and machine learning tools to further refine the content moderation process. AI tools can automatically filter and flag content, easing the burden on agents and allowing them to focus on handling nuanced cases. AI tools can also provide real-time moderation, instantly flagging and responding to harmful content before it has a chance to spread.

Ultimately it is the combination of human agents and AI tools that leads to the highest success rates for content moderation.

Contact center solutions for fraud prevention

In addition to content moderation, contact centers can provide a wide range of fraud prevention services. These services begin with proactive monitoring and detection. By monitoring transactions and activities 24/7, fraudulent activities will be identified in real-time. Additionally, through the use of data analysis, suspicious patterns and behaviors can be identified early. This helps ensure that malicious accounts are suspended before fraudulent activity can take place.

In addition to monitoring and detecting fraud, contact centers provide incident response and management. Quick action allows fraud to be shut down immediately before user accounts are compromised or customers are deceived. Agents can coordinate with law enforcement and financial institutions to track down fraudsters and prevent further fraudulent activity.

Best Practices, Continuous Improvements, and Feedback Loops

Not only do contact centers offer robust content moderation and fraud prevention services, but they are better equipped to ensure the highest quality of these services than an in-house team might be.

For starters, contact centers continually invest in the best technologies for ad moderation and fraud prevention. They regularly assess their processes to ensure they are the most effective and up-to-date. In addition, contact centers will incorporate the feedback they receive from their agents and customers to improve processes.

Furthermore, contact centers can compile large data sets from numerous clients to better understand fraud and content trends. This allows these teams to use predictive analytics to target future threats and trends.

Protecting Brands and Customers

Ad moderation and fraud prevention are critically important for retail e-commerce platforms to succeed. By preventing fraudulent activities and shutting down malicious, misleading, or inappropriate content, an e-commerce platform’s brand is protected and customers can shop securely. For more information about how the role a contact center can play in ad moderation and fraud prevention, contact KellyConnect.