What is the term for the fraudulent practice where a lower-priced item is swapped with a higher-priced item?

The fraudulent practice of swapping a lower-priced item with a higher-priced item is known as package switching. This involves manipulating the pricing mechanism by replacing the label or package of a cheaper item with that of a more expensive one, allowing the individual to purchase the higher-priced item at the lower price.

Understanding package switching is essential for retailers as it highlights the vulnerabilities in their inventory management and checkout processes. Addressing this type of fraud can help businesses protect their revenue and maintain price integrity.

The other possible responses pertain to different concepts entirely. Price look-up refers to the method of checking the price of an item using a code or scanning, which is not related to fraudulent activity. A point-of-sale system is a technology used for processing sales transactions and does not directly relate to switching packages. Perpetual inventory is a method of accounting that maintains a continuous record of inventory levels and does not involve the act of fraud that package switching represents. Thus, package switching is the appropriate term describing this particular fraudulent action.