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Free returns may be a table stakes offering for e-tailers: A majority of US consumers (51%) will avoid shopping with an online retailer that doesn’t offer free returns, according to a survey by Radial cited by Internet Retailer.
Business Insider Intelligence
The desire for free returns may be due to apprehensions shoppers hold about buying certain product categories online. The types of items that consumers were most hesitant to buy online were: clothing and accessories (mentioned by 41% of respondents), jewelry and luxury goods (31%), and groceries and household items (26%).
These concerns could stem from different issues that can arise from not being able to see these types of products. Clothing or accessories may be the wrong size or fit, luxury goods could be counterfeits, and groceries like fresh produce may not be up to a shopper’s standards. Offering free returns allows retailers to help assuage these issues for customers by removing the risk; if a consumer is unsatisfied, they can return their product and not even lose a return fee in the process.
Beyond just offering free returns, retailers need to ensure their returns processes are simple to use. An overwhelming 95% of consumers say that how smooth a retailer’s returns process is influences whether they’ll buy from that company again, according to a survey by Voxware cited by Business Insider Intelligence.
In spite of this, only four out of 10 shoppers are currently highly satisfied with online retailers’ return policies and accessibility, according to a survey by Internet Retailer and BizRate Insights, suggesting that e-tailers have a lot of room to improve and outcompete their rivals.
Retailers may want to pay particular attention to how easy it is for customers to handle the logistics of their returns. Almost half (49%) of US consumers said that the act of physically shipping their returns was the most challenging part of returning an online purchase. Making this easier could amplify the benefit of offering free returns by also making them less of a hassle for the shopper.
And consumers already seem to have some ideas about how to go about doing this, with 51% saying that prepaid return labels and packaging is their preferred method for returning goods. As an additional measure, retailers could consider implementing in-store returns, adding to the number of simple return options.
If they do enable in-store returns, retailers need to execute them correctly — for example, by having a dedicated space for returns so customers don’t have to wait in long lines.