Majority of Online Shoppers Are “Much More Likely” to Buy from Retailers That Offer Free, In-Person Returns
October 24 2017 - 5:30AM
Business Wire
New Study from Leading Retail Analyst Reveals
Powerful Impact of Return Process on Online Shopping Behavior
Retailers that offer free, in-person returns with an immediate
refund are more likely to win with online shoppers according to
Returns Happen: A Growing Opportunity for
Retailers, a new report authored by leading retail
analyst Sucharita Mulpuru.
Happy Returns, a technology, service, and logistics company that
provides in-person returns for online retailers, commissioned the
survey of 1,800 online fashion shoppers to understand shopper
attitudes toward returns and what retailers can do to improve the
experience.
Key findings of the research include:
- Returns are shoppers’ least favorite
part of shopping online by a wide margin
- 73% of shoppers selected “Returns” as
the least favorite part of shopping online
- 15% of shoppers selected “Waiting” to
receive items as the least favorite part
- The anticipated hassle of returns leads
many shoppers to avoid shopping online
- 28% of those surveyed report that they
shop less online than they would otherwise because they don’t want
to deal with the hassle of returns.
- Printing and repackaging present major
challenges, especially for Millennial customers
- 44% of shoppers under age 30 find it a
hassle to print return labels
- 62% of shoppers don’t have 24/7 access
to a printer
- A majority (51%) of Millennial shoppers
prefer to return online purchases to physical stores, while only 7%
prefer to return via mail
- The most requested features of online
shoppers’ ideal returns experience include:
- No cost
- Immediate refunds
- Ability to drop returns to a local
store
- Allowing returns without a receipt
- 85% of shoppers are more likely to shop
retailers able to offer this returns experience
- 56% of shoppers surveyed are much more
likely to shop
- 29% are shoppers surveyed are somewhat
more likely to shop
“Returns are an overlooked and underappreciated yet critical
component of the online shopping experience,” said report author,
Sucharita Mulpuru, lead retail analyst at Forrester Research.
“Recent announcements from Amazon, Kohls and Walmart show that
leading retailers are finally addressing returns. This report
outlines what other retailers need to provide to meet the
expectations of today’s online shopper.”
Happy Returns is making the full report, Returns Happen: A Growing Opportunity for
Retailers, available for free on its website at
www.happyreturns.com/study.
“This is the first research that describes what shoppers want in
returns and quantifies the impact of getting it right,” said David
Sobie, CEO and Co-Founder of Happy Returns. “There are few, if any,
other initiatives that online retailers can undertake to make more
than 80% of their customers more likely to shop.”
About Sucharita Mulpuru:
Sucharita Mulpuru is the lead retail analyst at Forrester
Research where she covers retailers and retail technologies. She
has authored dozens of research papers focused on the retail
industry, presents her findings at conferences and events around
the world and is widely cited in the media on digital retail and
eCommerce subjects.
Sucharita led the research and authored the Happy Returns
research study: Returns Happen: A Growing
Opportunity for Retailers.
About Happy Returns
Happy Returns is transforming e-commerce by solving the #1 pain
point of online shopping—returns. The company does this by
providing in-person returns through a network of physical Return
Bar® locations staffed by friendly and highly trained Returnista™
return specialists, located in premier shopping centers, stores and
boutiques.
With Happy Returns, shoppers get returns that are easy, free,
involve no packing or shipping, and provide an immediate refund.
Retailers using Happy Returns save money through decreased shipping
and support costs and enjoy increased conversions and customer
satisfaction. Shopping centers and other hosts benefit from
highly-qualified foot traffic driven to their locations. Happy
Returns is based in Santa Monica, California, and its investors
include Upfront Ventures, Lowercase Capital, and Maveron.
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Happy ReturnsJamie Diamond(541) 441-4444diamond.jj@gmail.com