The Impact of the Return Experience

Allison Howen — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 15:00:00 GMT

A new study sheds some light on the reasons why consumers return their online or by-phone purchases and how their experiences with the return process influences their future purchasing habits with online merchants.

The study, which collected responses from 600 consumers and was conducted by voice solutions provider Voxware, reveals that 64 percent of respondents make returns because their purchased items are the incorrect size or color. While that stat isn’t that surprising, this one could be – 84 percent of respondents claim that the return process is extremely or very important to their future intentions of shopping with a retailer. That being said, 57 percent of respondents find the return process moderately easy, yet annoying, while 16 percent find it difficult.

Another surprising statistic, however, reveals that many times the cause of return is the fault of the merchant and not the consumer. In fact, 65 percent of respondents claim that more often, they return items due to retailer error. Furthermore, one-third of respondents claim that they have received an incorrect item for a second time after making a return.

It is important to note that the respondents also said that they tend to experience return issues with specific retailers – with 31 percent stating that they have more issues with large retailers compared to small. Moreover, these types of experiences result in 25 percent of the respondents shopping limitedly with the retailer both online and offline, while 15 percent stop shopping with the retailer altogether. Additionally, after returning an incorrect item to a retailer, almost 20 percent of respondents said that they expect the correct item to be shipped back to them within one to two days, while 43 percent expect the correct item in three to four days.

“This research proves that the clear majority of product returns are due to retailer error,” said Keith Philips, president and CEO, Voxware. “Mistakes are happening too frequently, both in the initial delivery and in the return process. This not only increases supply chain costs, but it also severely impacts customer satisfaction. As online shopping increases, the time to optimize supply chains for omni-channel delivery is now. Most errors occur in distribution centers at the moment orders are picked off of the shelves. Hands-free voice software can dramatically decrease these picking errors, so retailers can get it right the first time, cut returns and boost shopper loyalty.”

Stellar Shipping Solidifies Customers

Allison Howen — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 23:58:00 GMT

Although not always top of mind, logistics are among the most important aspects of e-commerce – especially during the holiday season.

In fact, a recent Voxware study reveals that late or inaccurate deliveries drastically impact consumers’ future decisions to shop with a retailer, with 29 percent of the study’s respondents stating that they will abandon shopping with a retailer if they receive an incorrect delivery. Furthermore, the study found that 68 percent of respondents say their expectations for correct and on-time delivery is higher during the holiday season.

“For a retailer to be successful, it is absolutely essential to get the right product to the right customer in a timely manner – delays and inaccuracies will have a disastrous impact on customer satisfaction, brand image, and bottom lines,” said Keith Phillips, President and CEO, Voxware. “With this survey, we wanted to better understand consumer expectations for correct and on-time deliveries. The results prove that with just one error or delay, many consumers will abandon shopping with that retailer not only online, but in-store as well. Efficiency and accuracy are more critical than ever as consumer expectations rise in parallel with their increase in online shopping.”

It is also important to note that the 43 percent of the survey respondents expect retailers who use standard shipping to deliver packages within 3-4 days, while 40 percent expect their packages to arrive in 5-6 days. And retailers who repeatedly don’t meet these expectations will undoubtedly lose customers, because 55 percent of respondents claim that they will abandon shopping with a retailer altogether after receiving a late delivery two to three times.

However, late deliveries are better than incorrect deliveries, because the study shows that 59 percent of respondents won’t shop with a retailer if they receive two to three incorrect deliveries. And with 30 percent of respondents stating that they intend to have more or significantly more holiday gifts delivered directly to them this year compared to last holiday season, it is more important than ever for merchants to ensure that their deliveries are efficient and correct.

“As the popularity of online shopping has exploded, retailers have not given enough attention to optimizing their supply chain for multi-channel distribution,” said Phillips. “Many still have an out-dated distribution center infrastructure in place and as a result, order fulfillment is often suboptimal. Most inefficiencies and errors occur in the distribution center at the moment of order selection, which has the largest impact on ensuring timely, accurate customer fulfillment. This is why voice technology can bring tremendous benefits to a retail organization. Because voice software lets retail warehouse workers remain hands-free, they can move more quickly, process more orders, and easily scale to address seasonal demands.”

'Net Features : voxware

The Impact of the Return Experience

Stellar Shipping Solidifies Customers