Latest annual Snow Valley report reveals trends in online returns and refunds, with more including the original delivery charge than ever
Latest annual Snow Valley report reveals trends in online returns and refunds, with more including the original delivery charge than ever
There has been a sharp increase in the number of UK retailers that refund the original delivery charge when a customer returns an unwanted item bought online, according to Snow Valley’s 2011 Online Returns & Refunds Report, sponsored by delivery systems provider, MetaPack.
Out of the 229 retailers tested, 30% refunded the original delivery charge as well as the cost of the unwanted item. This marked a significant increase on previous years, when only 17% of retailers refunded the delivery fee.
Harmonising instore policy
For the first time, the delivery charge was also refunded by store staff in two of the returns made to a branch – staff in both TopShop and Laura Ashley noted that the return was within seven days and that the original delivery fee also needed to be included.
As the refunding of the delivery charge had gone up, the number of retailers that covered the cost of returning the item had fallen; only 35% sent postage paid labels or offered a paid carrier pick-up, compared to 40% in the previous year. Only 18 of the 229 retailers (8%) were very generous, paying for the customer to return the item and refunding the delivery charge.
The report also found that cross-channel return of online orders is still limited – only 52% of retailers with a store network allowed unwanted items to be returned to a shop. However, the researchers this year found that every store return was processed without hesitation by shop staff – a big improvement on previous years, when confusion has led to a lengthy returns experience and even a refusal to process the return.
“It’s very interesting to see that more retailers are refunding the original delivery charge,” said Sarah Clelland, marketing manager at Snow Valley. “For years we’ve noted that only 17% of retailers did so, and now suddenly that has shot up to 30%. It’s rare to see such a dramatic change. My suspicion is that this is related to the fact that some retailers changed their policy in the last twelve months following negative publicity around this issue.”
Mixed bag of service levels
“Other than that, we continue to see a mixed bag when it comes to returns and refunds. Every year our Online Retail Delivery Report is able to talk about the continual advances that nearly all retailers and suppliers are making in fulfilling online orders. When it comes to the Online Returns & Refunds Report, there is always less evidence of improvement across the board.”
“We always say that if delivery is the marriage, then returns is the divorce – sometimes it can be swift and amicable, sometimes it’s protracted and downright miserable for the customer.”
Patrick Wall, MetaPack chief executive and the report sponsor, added: “This report highlights many areas for retailers to think seriously about, but those wishing to stay ahead of the pack need to now also look at their international returns. At the cutting edge, leading global retailers are looking to minimise returns costs or avoid them all together. The smart retailers are using local postal networks to return goods to consolidation points where they can be bulk shipped at a lower cost back to the country of origin. Where retailers gain sufficient mass, there will be attempts to re-work returned product in the destination country with the hope to re-sell within each local market.”
