More online retailers refund delivery charges
There has been a steep rise in the number of UK retailers that refund the original delivery charge when a customer returns an unwanted item bought online, according to a recent report.
The Snow Valley’s 2011 Online Returns & Refunds Report, sponsored by delivery specialists MetaPack, found that of the 229 retailers tested, 30% refunded the original delivery charge as well as the cost of the unwanted item. This is a significant increase on previous years, when only 17% of retailers refunded the delivery fee.
The report also found that 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 7 days and that the original delivery fee should 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 with only 35% sending postage paid labels or offering a paid carrier pick-up, compared to 40% in the previous year. Only 18 of the 229 retailers surveyed (8%) paid for the customer to return the item and refunded the delivery charge.
Another finding was that cross-channel return of online orders is still limited with only 52% of retailers with a store network allowing unwanted items to be returned to a shop. This year, however, the researchers found that every store return was processed without hesitation by shop staff. This was an improvement on previous years, when confusion led to a lengthy returns experience and even a refusal to process the return.
Other findings from this year’s report included:
• 52% of the retailers tested did not offer a choice of methods for returning an unwanted item – they insisted on either post, carrier pick-up, or return to store
• 92% of retailers allowed the customer to return by post
• 23% of retailers offered to send a carrier to pick up the item
• Larger retailers tended to be more flexible – 68% had a choice of return options
• Of 183 orders returned by post, 13% required the customer to call or e-mail the retailer first
• Of 22 carrier collections, 15 were very simple to arrange, with just one single phone call
• A third of carrier pick-ups required the customer to deal with the retailer and then the carrier
• Every store return was handled quickly without hesitation by store staff
• For the first time, 2 of the refunds processed in-store included the delivery charge
• 6 retailers either refused the return or refund or made it too difficult to return the item
• Return within 28 days was the most popular returns policy – 34% of retailers used this
• Over half of the retailers had a link on the homepage containing the word ‘return’
• 22% of retailers this year failed to send returns instruction with the package
• 88% of refunds were made without the customer following up
• 56% of the refunds appeared in the customer’s account within 4 working days
• 9% of refunds took 14 working days or longer to arrive.
Sarah Clelland, Marketing Manager at Snow Valley, commented: “It’s very interesting to see that more retailers are refunding the original delivery charge.”
She added: “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.”
“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, CEO of MetaPack said; “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.”
The report is available free of charge from www.snowvalley.com/research
