According to software provider nShift, it is estimated that 20% of online purchases are returned, costing retailers $642 billion annually. This phenomenon has become a retail nightmare, impacting brands’ bottom lines and causing huge amounts of waste. As a result, retailers are considering all possible means to alleviate this costly phenomenon, including this year’s Black Friday sales and “keep it” return policies with anticipated returns. But thankfully, there are other, more practical ways to approach this problem.
GoTRG, a return service company, surveyed 500 executives at 21 major retailers, including Amazon AMZN and Walmart WMT, and found that 59% of retailers have implemented a “Keep It” policy this year in an effort to completely eliminate returns. It turned out that it was provided. The decision comes as the number of shoppers returning online purchases during Black Friday is expected to rise even more than last year, with returns expected to reach $173 billion. For this reason, many retailers (most of whom wish to remain discreet) have adopted no-return policies, requiring them to cover the total cost of returns, which averages about $30 per item. Now evasive.
Reuters reported that companies including Amazon, Chewy.com, eBay and Wayfair are telling shoppers to refrain from making unnecessary purchases, even if they are worth $300. In doing so, these retailers are opting for a quick solution that alleviates the need for return processing and inventory management that is likely to be discarded, but this choice is not viable and will never be long-term. I am aware that this is not a complete solution. Policy abuse.
JCPenny, H&M, Bershka and more find concrete solutions to lower return rates
Rather than opting for a “leave it” return policy, retailers have many options to significantly reduce costs and ease the return process. Many brands are opening up the option for customers to return products in-store, facilitating the possibility of product exchanges and additional purchases, as well as increasing the likelihood that returned products will be returned to stock quickly. This significantly reduces costs for retailers by simplifying the return process and eliminating return shipping costs, as well as benefiting from additional purchases by shoppers in-store.
Eliminating free returns is also a concrete solution, but it is unpopular from a customer perspective. Considering the surge in returns, it is estimated that 40% of retailers are now charging fees for returns. This includes Zara, H&M, and J.Crew, to name a few, as well as US retailer JC Penney JCP, which currently charges his $8 for mailed returns. This could definitely discourage shoppers from adding multiple items to their cart knowing they can return anything that doesn’t fit, according to post-purchase e-commerce platform Narvar. 58% of shoppers have this attitude.
In addition to reviewing return policies, some brands are finding creative solutions to reduce the likelihood of product returns due to unsatisfactory product size, fit, or appearance. Because the most common reason for returns is that a product doesn’t fit, fashion brands are increasingly enriching their product pages with sizing information that is as accurate as possible. His Bershka, an Inditex-owned brand, has just launched virtual fitting rooms with his AI-powered 3D body measurement company 3DLOOK. This allows online shoppers to virtually try on clothing and provides highly accurate size and fit recommendations.
“We want to provide the best customer journey possible. To do that, we need to remove the inconvenience of returning items that don’t fit and provide the interactive experience that today’s young shoppers want. Yes,” Bershka’s e-commerce division said in a press release. The virtual try-on startup claims its technology reduces return rates by 6% while increasing conversions by 16% and order value by 20-25%, which is a compelling value for brands. Masu.
There is no doubt that fashion companies are at the forefront of innovation in providing more solutions that provide accurate size and fit estimates. ZARA recently posted user-generated photos of its clothes on its product pages to give a more accurate and realistic picture of what the clothes look like in real life. By leveraging user-generated content directly on product pages, ZARA gives online shoppers a first-hand understanding of how their clothes fit and creates great editorial photo shoots. provides a much better overview than .
With return rates rising to unprecedented levels, retailers have no choice but to adopt new policies while investing time and resources to better understand the reasons for returns. Because it includes a good reason. While “keep it” returns appear to be surfacing to avoid dealing with the expected post-holiday increase in returns, many retailers are proactively reviewing their return policies and improving returns through more accurate product information. I’m trying to find ways to reduce the chances. Retailers facing a multibillion-dollar problem can no longer avoid this surge in returns. That’s certainly more expensive than losing customers who don’t accept restocking fees.
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