Click and collect, or buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS), has become a staple of modern retail, giving customers near-instant gratification and merchants a valuable way to improve store traffic. Unfortunately, that same speed that customers love also attracts fraudsters who look to exploit gaps between online checkout and curbside hand-off.
A well-structured, PCI-compliant contact center operation closes those gaps without interfering with the customer journey. Below are five tactics we deploy for omnichannel retailers, each with secure payment standards and best practices for customer experience.
1. Route High-Risk Orders to a Specialized Fraud Queue
Not every “ready for pickup” call warrants extra scrutiny, but some red flags are easy to spot: mismatched IP addresses, multiple valuable items, or repeated gift card transactions. An inbound workflow that tags these orders in real time can route them to agents trained in fraud while letting low-risk customers breeze through curbside.
Because the logic lives inside the CRM, the shift happens invisibly; customers who pose no risk never notice the additional layer of security.
2. Keep Context Intact with Omnichannel Support
Fraudsters test every channel, chat, email, phone, looking for the weakest link. A single omnichannel platform pieces together each interaction into one timeline so agents see the full story: the original order confirmation, the “I lost my pickup code” email, and the last-minute address change request.
That complete view stops social engineering attempts that rely on isolated information. It also lets legitimate shoppers switch channels without repeating sensitive details, maintaining a friction-free experience.
3. Authenticate Payments Without Exposing Card Data
When a caller updates a payment method, agents rely on tokenized “last four digits” rather than the full information. Calls and screen recordings funnel through an encrypted, PCI-validated environment, described in our broader security and compliance framework.
Key elements include:
- Pause-and-resume recording during verbal card capture
- Real-time IVR payment transfers so agents never hear the number
- Enforced VPN and role-based access for remote staff
The result is airtight compliance and lower chargeback liability.
4. Leverage Real-Time Voice Analytics to Flag Social Engineering
Fraudulent callers often hesitate when confirming order numbers or stumble over their scripted answers. Live sentiment tools, similar to the approach highlighted in our piece on advanced voice analytics, detect these cues and use onscreen prompts for additional verification (e.g., photo ID, original payment method).
Retailers see a double benefit: reduced fraudulent pickups and faster handle times for genuine customers.
5. Staff for Weekend Surges Without Inflating Payroll
Click and collect order volume can triple on Saturdays. Dynamic staffing pools and forecasting models, best practices we share in workforce-management outsourcing, let retailers add to their headcount for peak windows and scale back on slower weekdays.
Fewer idle agents mean lower operational costs, freeing budget for advanced fraud-detection tools and CX enhancements.
Measuring Success: Key PCI & CX Metrics
| Metric | Baseline | Post-Implementation |
| Chargeback rate | 0.42% | 0.17% |
| Average curbside wait | 9 min | 5 min |
| First-contact resolution | 82% | 93% |
| CSAT (5-pt scale) | 4.2 | 4.7 |
Regular reviews with our benchmarking checklist ensure that fraud controls stay tight while customer satisfaction climbs.
Final Takeaway
Fraudsters will continue to chase the convenience of click and collect. Retailers that strengthen their contact center layer with PCI-compliant workflows, omnichannel visibility, and analytics-driven coaching can protect revenue and deliver the swift, seamless service shoppers crave. Ready to make curbside service safer? Let’s design a fraud-resistant CX strategy that scales with your brand’s growth.
