Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Returns are a cost of doing business for any retailer. In the wake of COVID-19, returns are receiving serious (and necessary) attention for several key reasons: Retailers are spending more processing returns in stores. For retailers struggling to avoid bankruptcy or emerge from it, a growing returns quagmire could be deadly.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 29, 2024

Store-based fulfillment of customer orders got an enormous boost during the COVID pandemic, when both curbside pickup and delivery offerings became survival tactics for so many retailers. Want to find out more about how retailers are meeting omnichannel and fulfillment challenges?

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Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 24, 2022

Ask any retailer or consumer and they’ll agree on this point: ecommerce returns are a problem — albeit for diametrically opposed reasons. Meanwhile, more than three in four (78%) consumers say they’ve had an inconvenient online returns experience recently, per Pitney Bowes latest BOXpoll survey. consumers love the USPS.

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Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 12, 2023

Amazon has reportedly instituted a new fee for certain returns at UPS stores as the ecommerce giant aims to reduce the impact of return costs, according to Seeking Alpha. There is no way to solve this problem,” said Spencer Kieboom, Founder and CEO of Pollen Returns in an interview with Retail TouchPoints.

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Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 22, 2022

The NYC-headquartered Fillogic will support the retailer through ecommerce and store-based fulfillment, reverse logistics and returns, forward-staging of inventory and final-mile delivery. The space will allow the retailer to stage inventory, satisfy merchandise pickup and delivery and fulfill store-based and ecommerce orders.

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Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 29, 2022

Ecommerce returns are the new reality for retailers, but their rapid rise doesn’t have to crush conversion rates and profitability. Consider how returns are central to the customer experience and can create a competitive advantage, differentiate a brand and increase customer lifetime value. Turn Returns Upside Down.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 8, 2025

Poshmark has partnered with Loop Returns for a new program that will allow shoppers to sell unwanted items that they cant return to the original merchant, extending the life of these products and cutting return handling costs for retailers. One click will produce a complete, pre-filled listing on Poshmark with item details.

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Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Simon Properties is partnering with Dropit to bring omnichannel inventory management and fulfillment capabilities to its facilities. Dropit layers AI technology into existing fulfillment systems to empower merchants to use real-time data that powers dynamic decision-making to balance inventory, optimize sourcing and streamline returns.

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Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 27, 2023

Target is rolling out its Drive Up Returns service nationwide following a successful pilot test. Drive Up Returns lets shoppers return any item, including those purchased online, directly to a Target associate without leaving their car. That’s why we’re launching Drive Up Returns.

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Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

In 2021, returns cost retailers a whopping $761 billion , or almost 17% of total U.S. This year the powerful combination of the special sale dates in Q4 (like Target, Amazon and Walmart holding October Black Friday events) and an increase in ecommerce holiday shopping means that this upward trend for returns will continue.

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Retail TouchPoints

MAY 11, 2021

It’s becoming increasingly clear that returns have costs that go well beyond the financial. 5 billion pounds of returned goods end up in landfills and 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are emitted in the transportation of returns, according to research conducted by reverse logistics solution provider Optoro.

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Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 14, 2023

The problems with getting products to people quickly and cheaply are well-known: consumers want fast fulfillment, which is costly to provide, but they don’t want to pay high (or really any) shipping fees. Unemployment is at 3.5% Even Amazon , the trendsetter in fast fulfillment, isn’t immune to higher labor costs.

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Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 14, 2024

Kohl’s has added brands including Carhartt, Hanes and Levi’s to its newly christened in-store returns service, The Return Drop @ Kohl’s. The retailer has partnered with Inmar Post-Purchase Solutions and Narvar to provide shoppers with package-free, label-free returns in its 1,100+ stores nationwide.

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Inside Retail

JUNE 1, 2023

Growing consumer expectations of free delivery and free returns are placing pressure on retailers who on one hand recognise customer demand, but on the other are trying to reduce their operating costs. Another strategy, she says, is to automate fulfilment. This is especially true with women’s apparel, for example. “We’ve

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Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 29, 2023

In Amazon ’s latest moves to bolster its logistics and fulfillment network, the company has partnered with Staples to accept customer returns and is looking for 2,500 local business to join its new Hub Delivery network. Staples Joins Amazon’s Network of Returns Partners By July 31, 2023, all Staples U.S. Retail in a statement.

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Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 26, 2023

UPS has agreed to acquire reverse-logistics solution Happy Returns from PayPal for an undisclosed amount. Happy Returns offers box-free, label-free returns for more than 800 merchant partners at over 10,000 locations across the U.S. of retail purchases (both online and in-store) were returned last year.

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Retail TouchPoints

MAY 2, 2023

A person can be anywhere at any time, search your online shop, press a button, and magically a shipment arrives at their door. What happens next, by way of return experience, most certainly impacts whether they will purchase from your business again. Think of things like rental car collision protection at the rental car counter.

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Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 28, 2023

For many years, permissive returns policies have been the norm in ecommerce. For the post-holiday season just past, it’s estimated that the total value of returned goods will be around $171 billion. retailers were revisiting their returns policies as of late 2022. With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that most U.S.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 3, 2024

Long viewed as a necessary evil, the retail returns process is emerging as an unexpected avenue for growth and customer engagement. In the rapidly expanding ecommerce market, projected to reach $3 billion in 2023, a significant 20% to 30% of online purchases end up being returned. Speed-to-restock is key in the returns cycle.

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Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 11, 2023

For some, however, this trade-off comes at the price of navigating frustrating and, at times, confusing return policies. With return policies differing from brand to brand, it can be exhausting for customers to keep track and often leads to more hassle than reward.

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Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 16, 2022

The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Appriss Retail projected that the 2022 returns rate will remain at 16.5%, nearly even with the 16.6% Additionally, the online return rate fell from 20.8% Every $1 billion in sales incurs $165 million in merchandise returns for the average retailer, according to the report.

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Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 14, 2023

Returns are, like it or not, as much a part of retail operations as the sales themselves. The exact return rate varies among different verticals and individual retailers, but online sales consistently generate higher levels of returns compared to brick-and-mortar. That means you’re out of business.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 1, 2025

According to PwC, businesses that reduce friction for consumers and empower all employees to make things right whether through returns, price adjustments or other policies bring higher customer satisfaction and more forgiveness. The experience doesnt stop at checkoutthats where it begins. Loyalty is both real and fleeting.

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Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 25, 2024

During the pandemic, ecommerce returns majorly impacted retailers profit margins. As customers return to in-store shopping, retailers are continuing to face an increase in returns from online and in-store sales. This holiday season, consumers who frequently make returns may be in for a surprise.

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Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 16, 2021

Glossier will return to brick-and-mortar with three permanent locations scheduled to open this year. The permanent location will be just four blocks away from the retailer’s original 2019 Seattle pop-up, but at 6,200 square feet it will have 4X the space, making it one of Glossier’s biggest physical experiences to date.

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Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 16, 2021

Many ecommerce retailers, particularly in the apparel space, have resigned themselves to return rates of 20%, 30% or more as a death-and-taxes-style inevitability. Better data, and lower return rates, also are critical to sustainability efforts.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 10, 2023

DoorDash has introduced Package Pickup, allowing consumers across the country to have the service deliver up to five return items per trip to UPS, FedEx or the USPS. Consumers can attach prepaid shipping labels to their returns or send a shipping QR code directly to their “Dasher” via the DoorDash app. trillion sold by U.S.

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Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Overstock.com is piloting a new returns program with UPS that will allow Overstock customers to schedule doorstep pickup for returns of unwanted items with no re-boxing required. . These post-purchase performance metrics will help us evaluate the end-to-end shopping experience for our customers,” said Johnson.

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Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 9, 2023

The idea of transforming malls into “mixed use” gathering spots has become popular, but an aerial view of these complexes provides an interesting perspective on another potential evolutionary path for the mall: as a fulfillment center. “ All those back-of-house loading docks are just perfect for fulfillment.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 17, 2025

With returns siphoning off a staggering $743 billion from retailers bottom lines in 2023, its clear that the industrys approach needs an overhaul. But instead of leaning on rigid policies that risk driving customers away, retailers can use this as an opportunity to rethink returns.

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Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Online return fraud cost U.S. For every $100 in returned merchandise accepted, U.S. to return fraud, the NRF has calculated. While it is possible for shoppers to commit return fraud innocently simply by mis-reading the returns policy, a significant number of returns are the result of premeditation and malicious intent.

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Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 7, 2023

The newly combined retailer has selected the Chief Returns Officer solution from Newmine , which has a predictive analytics functionality that will help the retailer quickly analyze and take corrective actions on why customers return merchandise.

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Retail TouchPoints

JULY 19, 2024

Reshop , a platform that provides instant refunds (not store credit) to shoppers returning items from participating retailers, has debuted with retailer partners including Steve Madden and Alo Yoga. With Reshop, customers can receive instant refunds — offering them greater flexibility, control and confidence to shop again right away.

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Retail TouchPoints

MAY 6, 2021

In London, as shoppers return to storied Oxford and Spencer streets after long COVID-19 lockdowns, they’re being greeted by the sight of boarded-up windows and a $23.4 retailers pay for failed deliveries, or the $309 billion the industry paid in 2019 (about 20% of ecommerce sales) on returns, according to an Appriss Retail research report.

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Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 25, 2024

Beginning in April, the retailer will offer a free battery recycling box (while supplies last), in which consumers can collect batteries at home and return them to Staples for free recycling. Staples has leveraged consumer recycling behavior research from MIT and partnered with Call2Recycle and ERI to design the program.

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Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 3, 2024

For anyone who has made a purchase online, returns are part of the standard online buying process — so much so that, according to a recent U.S. Consumer Study , 85% of consumers check a company’s returns policy before even making a purchase when shopping online, and 68% of U.S. That same report identified the top aspects that U.S.

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Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

While we’ve returned to some sense of normalcy, the VUCA [volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous] proposition has become a reality,” said Dr. Thomas Goldsby, Professor and Chair in Logistics in the Supply Chain Management Department of the University of Tennessee. RTP: What impact do returns have on supply chain costs?

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