Oct 26, 2016

The eighth annual IMRG UK Consumer Home Delivery Review, which surveyed 1,300 adults to understand their online fulfilment perceptions and expectations, has highlighted the importance of offering a good returns service that meets with customer expectations around online delivery.

The review found that on the whole UK shoppers are relatively satisfied with the quality of online delivery, which is great news. However it also identified a gap between customer expectation and customer satisfaction in the area of returns. While 74% consider a good returns service important when selecting the retailers they shop with, only 61% are actually satisfied with the returns service they receive.

The importance of returns was also touched upon in the Drapers Multichannel Customer Insight Report 2016 where 2,000 UK consumers were surveyed to find out how they shop now and how they want to shop in the future. When asked what is most important to them, more than 60% of respondents said ‘returns’.

This is not the first time we have heard about this. Research conducted by Savvy earlier this year showed that 57% of shoppers say easy returns make them more likely to shop online, with 25-34 year olds being the most likely to make returns. And in our own consumer research we found that when shopping on an international site for clothing, 73% of customers in Italy and 44% of customers in Japan are most likely to be reassured by a retailer’s returns policy. When asked whether the returns policy of a retailer affected their purchasing decision, those from Russia favoured an easy returns policy and Germans preferred free returns. We also found that in all of the regions surveyed, good returns options matter to women more than men.

So it is evident that returns matter to customers, not only in the UK but across the globe and that offering a good returns service, that meets with customer expectations, is of paramount importance to succeed in the competitive eCommerce battleground.

Smart retailers recognise this fact and and use their returns process as an opportunity to extend their customer service offering and keep their customers happy. Which is why we are seeing more and more retailers coming on board with wnReturns - our clever international returns solution which supports both the etailer and their end customer.

The ability to handle international returns is vital to retailers looking for eCommerce expansion; over 90% of retailers have said that this is 'important' or 'very important'.

With wnReturns, the whole process is made easy. Our retailer branded portal allows:

• The consumer to search for their order and produce a returns label
• Captures the reason for the return
• Offers a fully tracked solution - capturing scans in country and on receipt at our facility
• Allows the consumer to see where their return is, so a timely refund can be issued
• Choice of payment options - either retailer or customer paid
• Returns are consolidated for cost efficiency
• Gives full visibility of stock for complete control

So what are you waiting for? If you haven’t already, get in touch and see how wnReturns can help you stay one step ahead.

For more info about wnReturns click here