When in doubt, who has not bought several sizes of the same article or several models. Or you have returned a model after using it. Amazon's exchange policy has dragged the entire retail sector to have a fast, easy and free return model, without having to leave home. For the textile industry that tries to break through in online sales, it has been almost an obligation to attract customers. However, it is a high price to maintain a flat rate on returns.
According to Appriss, the value of refunds from the sector in the US amounts to 369,000 million dollars, which represents 10% of total turnover, Bloomberg highlights. At Christmas, the number of returns skyrockets. UPS expects to handle more than one million packages back to the seller, peaking at close to 2 million on select days.
Now retailers are trying to undo the model. For now they are taking small steps, such as not providing postage for returns. But they are already studying measures to prevent massive returns that are the most damaging to margins. But also to limit the deadlines to make the change or the practice of putting on a garment for only one day and returning it.
Reverse logistics forced by returns not only adds higher costs for companies, it also forces companies to expand warehouse space. This stock is "thrown away in the warehouse until the merchandise is relocated," explains David Egan, head of industrial research and logistics at real estate advisory firm CBRE. But recognize that sometimes it ends up in the trash to save space.
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— Pepco Thu Jun 24 14:58:37 +0000 2021
"We can improve the situation, but it's not clear that we can fix it until we convince people not to over-buy," the expert says sincerely. In the meantime, "companies have to assess whether the cost of returns is greater than the loss of a customer," he stresses.
The cost of returns still does not exceed the loss of a customer in the sector as a whole. Urban Outfitter's Anthropologie has imposed a fee for returns by mail. Fashion Nova, the most Googled fashion brand in the US last year, does not return the money but offers credit to spend again in its stores. And Abercrombie & Fitch requires a receipt or invoice.
But in the sector there are still more aggressive firms. Asos this year announced blacklists of users who benefit from its return policy. Something that Amazon has been doing for years, according to The Wall Street Journal. Home Depot, TJX. and Target have also admitted to analyzing complicated customer patterns.
There are other strategies that seek to take advantage of returns, trying to attract the user to physical stores. "If they come back to the store to make a return, we see that as an opportunity," says Scott Lipesky, Abercrombie's chief financial officer. First, because it does not imply any additional logistical expense, but there are studies that indicate that an item returned in a store results, on average, in an additional sale that represents 107% of the value of what was returned, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. .
For example, some Nordstrom stores allow you to pick up returns from some competitors like Macy's and Kohl's. But it's not the only one. Kohl's accepts Amazon returns, offering a 25% discount on its products to anyone who brings them in.
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