Return to Sender
Return to sender
Unwanted parcels are proving to be an increasingly expensive headache for retailers, and Professor Adrian Palmer explores why in our latest Leading Insight.
Recent growth in online shopping has triggered a new boom – in returns of unwanted goods back to retailers. Returns policies have become a new competitive battleground for retailers. Consumers want to be able to return goods quickly, easily and cheaply, but this can be very costly to retailers. Senior managers at the Henley Centre for Customer Management recently identified the growing cost of returns as something that kept them awake at night. Make returns policies too generous and retailers may win the sale, but the cost of returns will eat into profits. “Reverse e-retailing” is a growing challenge, but also presents opportunities.