Product Returns

In an era when food, groceries, barns and ultimately anything is delivered on-demand to consumers' doorsteps, why are we just starting to see return pickup offered? Even major retailers like Amazon.com and Walmart have only started offering return pickup recently. It seems like a simple offering, but with weight and size restrictions, varying distances from…

Mother’s Day recently passed, and our data showed it garnered some of the lowest returns rates of the year thus far. Additionally, we found the value of Mother’s Day returns were significantly lower, about 25 percent less per item, than standard returns. Most gifts hovered around $20 or less. We're anticipating a similar scenario for…

European fashion brand Zara recently announced it will charge U.S. customers for returning online purchases to third-party drop-off points. According to Zara's website, U.S. customers who placed orders from June 1 onwards will be charged $3.95 to return online purchases to third-party drop-off points. The cost will be deducted from the refund amount. Customers can still…

In 2021, e-commerce boomed. Consumers spent $870.78 billion online last year, and according to the National Retail Federation (NRF), returns resulted in $761 billion in lost sales for U.S. retailers. As we near the halfway mark of 2022, retailers are getting organized around the holiday season to prepare for more online shopping, more delays and…

A global influx of e-commerce sales, mixed with the hyperfocus on getting orders faster to consumers spotlights a growing problem: returns. Online returns have always been a challenge, but with the expectation that they will exceed $1T by 2024, retailers need more than new policies, they need solutions. The rapid evolution of the online shopping…

While the explosive growth of digital shopping in 2020 led to more sales, it also caused a spike in returns as shoppers discovered some of their online purchases didn’t fit, were defective, or failed to meet expectations. For most retailers, an influx of returns expose costly operational weaknesses for processing returns, as well as untapped…

For many retailers, returns equals a huge profit loss, an expensive transaction that can often cost more money than the actual item is worth. Driven by the pandemic, consumers took to online shopping, contributing to a record high of $855 billion in online sales in 2021. The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Appriss Retail reported…

We all know that a positive customer experience (CX) is crucial for gaining loyalty, maximizing profits, and growing visibility. From the first interaction between a customer and your business to the moment a transaction is made and final goods are exchanged, convenience, efficiency and a seamless experience are essential. What retailers are beginning to realize,…

While retailers have been grappling with reverse logistics challenges for years, the current global supply chain disruption and ensuing logistics chaos are shining a spotlight on the issue. The pandemic shifted consumer spending away from service-based expenditures (e.g., restaurants, travel) and towards the purchase of goods. As a result, the e-commerce market skyrocketed — and…

For most retailers, the beginning of the year almost always kicks off with slowed sales and a surge of product returns. When inventory is returned in mass quantities, businesses can be left with a holiday hangover — not to mention a large pile of items that usually end up being thrown out or liquidated for…