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Welcome to the world of retail returns, an expensive, cumbersome yet essential part of the industry. The number of returns is growing and managing them is critically important to maintaining margins and customer satisfaction. of all purchased goods were returned to retailers. of all purchased goods were returned to retailers.
Christmas and end-of-year sales are big business for retailers but they also drive enormous returns. The rise in post-Christmas returns can be attributed to several trends, with the growth of eCommerce being a leading factor. This helps lower material use and reduce space in delivery trucks, ultimately lowering emissions.”
A customer-centric approach to supply chain management is challenging; it requires a deep understanding of consumer expectations and behaviors, not just today but also for the foreseeable future. For starters, consumers appetite for digital commerce is skyrocketing. massive parts shortages and shipping blockades).
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.
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. Delivering a smooth and frictionless post-purchase experience should be a top priority for every retailer.
Why automation is non-negotiable Australian consumers expect fast deliveries, error-free orders, and seamless shopping journeys. Case study: Subo Products’ Black Friday win Subo, an Australian e-commerce retailer, struggled with shipping large volumes of orders until it turned to ShipStation’s automation tools in 2020. A forecast $69.7
Seeking to compete with ultra-low-price sites such as Shein and Temu , Amazon has introduced Amazon Haul , featuring maximum prices of $20 and one- to two-week shipping times. There have been rumors of the move for months, and now the new shop is officially rolling out in beta. It will be available to U.S.
Online shopping is now easier than ever before, enabling consumers to purchase everything from socks to a dining room table from a computer at their home to a mobile phone in an airport terminal. The ease of online shopping also gives consumers the ability to comparison shop more quickly, showing them more options in less time.
It’s meant to be quite simple for a shopper, but as an ecommerce retailer, you know it’s not that easy — especially if the customer changes their mind and wants to return said magical shipment back to your shop. What happens next, by way of return experience, most certainly impacts whether they will purchase from your business again.
Personalisation is already an important factor in cultivating customer loyalty among Gen Z and millennial consumers, and they will be even more critical of Gen Alphas as their influence grows. The post The consumer preferences driving the next generation of e-commerce appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.
Returns provide brands and retailers the opportunity to delight their customers. market saw over $400B in returns in 2020. If this dollar value were a proxy for revenues, the returns channel would be the second largest global retailer behind Walmart. That is a significant amount of capital tied up in the returns channel!
In such times, shipments get delayed and even lost, shipping costs and storage costs spiral and customer frustration increases when goods fail to arrive. This helps manage consumer expectations as well as enhance profitability on limited stock. Businesses are getting increased returns every year. per cent vs 10 per cent).
Indeed, 30% of consumers said they buy from online marketplaces a few times a month, while another 20% buy from them a few times a week, according to Bizrate Insights. However, 70% of consumers prefer shopping with specialized marketplaces over their mass counterparts, according to Boston Consulting Group.
Hubbed is setting a new standard for e-commerce returns with the upcoming launch of its box-free and label-free solution across its entire Parcelpoint network. With over 2500 locations nationwide, this innovation is designed to enhance convenience and customer experience for e-commerce returns.
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.
As economic pressures persist and competition increases, customer expectations for shipping and delivery grow. Shippit’s latest State of Shipping Report for 2024 offers a comprehensive look into current trends and challenges facing retailers, shedding light on how businesses can adapt and thrive in this dynamic environment.
A recent study found that three-quarters of consumers will avoid a brand after a cybersecurity issue, and more than 40% assume that brands are to blame when an incident occurs. Another survey of online consumer attitudes found that 84% wont go back to an ecommerce site after a fraud experience there.
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.
Although public health officials say it’s unlikely COVID-19 infections can be spread by surfaces or physical objects, retailers are being cautious about how they handle returned merchandise. They are instituting disinfection processes and quarantine periods that keep those items from returning to stock for a varying number of days.
It might seem counterintuitive for retailers to focus on returns when they are so focused on trying to convince customers to buy products in the first place (and rightly so). However, return policies actually have a major influence on whether shoppers go through with a transaction — particularly for increasingly popular online purchases.
The ease of online shopping is partly driven by flexible return policies. Gen Z often buys multiple items, tries them on at home and returns what doesnt fit. Across generations, 24% of online clothing purchases are returned. With Gen Zs preference for mobile shopping, optimizing websites and apps for mobile users is critical.
The pandemic has brought about long-term changes for both business operations and consumer expectations, and 2021 taught us how far removed we are from ever returning to the old “normal.” Business leaders have their eye on other factors like the acceleration of consumer spending and lingering economic challenges.
Additionally, if we promise to ship something by a specific date, they expect it to arrive on time. RTP: How do you use consumer and associate feedback to best prioritize your tech investments? Lockton: In addition to taking into consideration feedback and market and consumer trends, we are a test-and-learn company.
Happy Returns by PayPal has teamed with Staples US Retail to offer the Happy Returns in-person service, adding more than 1,000 Staples retail locations to its return service. The Staples partnership increases the number of the company’s Return Bars to more than 3,800 locations.
In other words, consumers don’t just want the perfect pair of black sneakers delivered to their doorstep in 24 hours — they may also want those sneakers to come from a company with a low carbon footprint, or from a brand that supports social-justice causes, or from a Black-owned business in their local area.
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. consumers and retain repeat customers.
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.
However, what retailers must do now is respond as quickly as possible to shifts in consumer and competitor behavior. For example, the dockworker strike ended quickly, but still caused shipping backlogs. Meanwhile, it looks like Great Lakes shipping could be affected by higher-than-average precipitation.
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.
Marking a significant shift in ThredUp ’s value proposition to consumers, the resale marketplace testing out a number of new initiatives to improve its margins, including new return policies and fees for its “cleanout kit” consignment services. We’re seeing consumers really understand why we’re making some of these changes.”
The Online CX Index, a partnership between Inside Retail and Humii, covers the entire website experience through checkout, delivery and even returns, evaluating eight key criteria based on up to 200 data points. “Consumers hate unpleasant surprises. . “Consumers hate unpleasant surprises.
Ulta Beauty is partnering with Happy Returns to add Return Bar services to 1,300 brick-and-mortar locations. Through this partnership, Ulta and Happy Returns will increase the total number of Return Bar locations to more than 5,000 by the end of 2022.
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. Others might order two or three sizes of the same item and return the ones that don’t fit. “It’s
Rising operational costs, increased global competition, and shifting consumer behaviours are among the contributing factors. Shein uses advanced data analytics to predict trends and manufacture new designs with speed, while Temu’s aggressive pricing strategies have captured cost-conscious consumers.
Global direct-to-consumer brands (DTC) reaped exponential rewards, especially from Millennial and Gen Z shoppers. Even traditionally more high-touch categories such as luxury goods, fragrances and cosmetics did exceptionally well with cross-border consumers. It wasn’t just Netflix that benefited from discovery during the pandemic.
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.
Whether shipping directly to customers’ homes, enabling curbside pickup or restocking store shelves, consistently improving speed, accuracy and adaptability is crucial for meeting shopper expectations and maintaining market share. Orgill , the worlds largest independently owned hardlines distributor, achieves 99.6%
by storm, rising to the top of the app charts and garnering millions of fans, until consumers began to realize the cost of those ultra-low prices — long delivery times and often poor quality products. From March 30 (3/30) to April 5, 2023, shoppers will have access to deals on thousands of products and free shipping on all orders over $10.
billion in gross merchandise volume (total spend before fees, discounts and returns) up from $4.5 In a recent Australian Competition and Consumer Commission hearing, the CEO of Woolworths cited the 6500 products across the grocery, household and personal care categories stocked in Woolworths that were now also being sold on Amazon.
In the early years of online shopping, bricks-and-mortar retailers were terrified about “showrooming” This was the idea that consumers would browse products in stores – touch them, try them on – and then go and buy them cheaply online. Our research shows that consumers demand a unified shopping experience.
It’s been another year of record-breaking ecommerce sales combined with unprecedented snarls across shipping and inventory ecosystems, so it should come as no surprise that return rates for 2021 are expected to have gone through the roof.
In a world where consumers can shop from virtually anywhere, ecommerce is no longer limited by geography. Evolving Consumer Behaviours Todays consumers are more global than ever. They want seamless experiencesfrom clear product information and localised payment options to transparent shipping costs and easy returns.
Retail’s busiest returns period may be in the rearview mirror until next year, but rising ecommerce order volumes have caused returns management to become an aspect of ecommerce and omnichannel business that warrants a dedicated year-round strategy. Returns are a major cost of doing retail business of any kind, but especially online.
Tara Daly, senior director of product marketing at Loop Returns , shares with Inside Retail advice on getting started in the US market, some tips on cross-border shipping and logistics – including managing returns in a way that builds customer loyalty – and how to drive repeat business. Begin with baby steps, she advocates.
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