FIELDREPORT - ToptoToe
Should free returns be offered as standard?
The growth in online shopping is not news, but the impact on the retail environment, how customers shop and how retailers meet customer needs, is constantly evolving. Michael Bloom examines the merits of offering free returns
Delivery Matters Customer returns are proving to be a
key issue for online shoppers and a complex one for retailers to manage. The Royal Mail annual research report
‘Delivery Matters’ has commissioned research to help retailers improve their understanding of the needs of online shoppers. Each year the report focuses on a key
area and 2015’s report is a Returns Special, examining what matters to online shoppers when they need to send something back. The report found that 30% of online
shoppers returned women’s clothing with fit and size as the main return reason, with faults and damage second. 73% of those surveyed expect free
returns and crucially 60% of online shoppers are unlikely to purchase from an e-tailer again if they have been charged for a return. The location of return options was seen as important with 72% saying that they preferred the Post Office as a returns drop off point over other locations. Nick Landon MD at Royal Mail Parcels
said “Convenient returns play a big part in making e-commerce attractive, and as online shoppers become more and more comfortable with online purchasing they are starting to dictate
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how they want the process to work, from free returns to end to end tracking.”
Should you charge? The returns process needs to feed
seamlessly into your stock system, readjusting your warehouse, or shop floor numbers in real-time. This means that a returned item can be back in the system available for sale. That is the nuts and bolts of the process, however online returns are about much more than the administration. They add, however, that a business’s attitude to online returns says a lot about their attitude towards their customers.
Large companies
that have poor online returns policies feature highly on Internet forums
Consumer Rights
There is no legal obligation for high- street shops to accept returns unless an item is faulty. Online purchases are covered by different rules, specifically the Consumer Contracts Regulations of June 2014, which replaced the Distance Selling Regulations and these give consumers additional rights to return items. The regulations give legal protection to consumers returning items because they have changed their minds, unlike high-street purchases. Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, consumers have the right to return the order up to 14 days from the day goods are received. Many online retailers extend this further, so be sure to be aware of what your competitors are offering.
How to drive customers away? Large companies that have poor
online returns policies feature highly on Internet forums. At Sports Direct customers have to pay for returns, unpopular with most customers but not that surprising as it reflects the low cost approach to the business they employ and some may say the poor customer service oſten experienced in-store. Lillywhites, now owned by Sports Direct, also do not offer free returns for
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