From The Wall Street Journal: Free shipping and lenient return policies have given online retailing a huge boost. Now, chains are mining their order data to get shoppers to keep more purchases.
Behind the uptick in e-commerce is a little known secret: As much as a third of all Internet sales gets returned, according to retail consultancy Kurt Salmon. And the tide of goods flowing back to retailers is rising. Shipper United Parcel Service Inc. expects returns to jump 15% this season from last year, making them a significant and growing cost for retailers.
The stakes get even higher during the holidays, when return volume peaks. So this year, chains are digging through past transactions to weed out chronic returners, train shoppers to make better decisions or stem buyer's remorse....
Retailers are zeroing in on high-frequency returners like Paula Cuneo, a 54-year-old teacher in Ashland, Mass., who recently ordered 10 pairs of corduroy pants in varying sizes and colors on Gap Inc. s website, only to return seven of them. Ms. Cuneo is shopping online for Christmas gifts this year, ordering coats and shoes in a range of sizes and colors. She will let her four children choose the items they want—and return the rest.
Ms. Cuneo acknowledged the high costs retailers absorb to take back the clothes she returns, but said retailers' lenient shipping policies drove her to shop more.
"I feel justified," she said. "After all, I am the customer." http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304773104579270260683155216
Wow, what an arrogant POS.
I work a send job as cashier at a local Wal-Mart and I see returns brought back for a lot of reasons, mostly stupid reasons: The food item wasn't the right color, I found the same item at a cheaper price so I want to return the food item, I decided I didn't like the taste, I just don't want the item or I could not afford the item.
Many of these items they return, we cannot put back on the shelf, so we end up giving the customer back the item and throwing away the food into the garbage can. What a waste because of the customer's stupidity or arrogance.
Many customers has the idea that they are always right and they should be treated like kings and queens, no matter what. Some, not many though, think it is alright to raise their voices at the employees (being 6'2 and 310 or mainly muscle with just a little beer belly. I don't have that problem), throw things on the conveyor belt, talk on their cell phone while checking out, lie about price matches and get mad when we call them on it, buying a cart full of groceries and their budget is only $20 and we have to put back the items they don't want or hide cold items to the point that they go bad and we have to throw away the items.
And then we have to, from time to time, have to deal with arrogant customers like Ms. Cueno.
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