快购时代的连环退货买家

在当今时代，时尚业竞争激烈，零售商们用各种方式让退货变得不再困难。大多数情况下，消费者们只需要把服饰带回服装店就可以了。这虽然让退换货物变得非常方便，却催生出了不少先大量购买商品，再退还回去的买家。这看似无伤大雅，但公司的利润却因此受到影响。面临这一趋势，很多公司却没有想出相应的对策。

 

We've all done it. We buy something we think we like and then change our minds about it. Whether panic buying, an impulse purchase or shopper's remorse¹, we're fortunate many companies allow us to easily exchange or refund² items. In fact it's so easy these days that retailers⁵ are seeing an increase in a new type of shopper: the serial⁶ returner.

 

A serial returner is someone who buys items, often in bulk, only to return most of them. 41-year-old Hester Grainger, founder⁷ of Mumala Club, estimates spending £300 to £400 each month on clothes, but returning "around 80%", she told the BBC. This isn't unique. Barclaycard, which processes nearly half of the UK's credit and debit⁸ card transactions, says that in the last two years 26% of retailers have seen an increase in in-store and online returns – with the number of items being sent back up by 22%.

 

It's a problem for companies. Handling these returns eats into profits. Free delivery for the customer means the company foots the bill. Items may need to be repackaged. They are damaged - making them unfit for resale. Tony Mannix, CEO of Clipper, a logistics firm that handles returned goods for major retailers, said about 5% of them end up "being binned⁹." Sometimes the fast fashion cycle has moved on. By the time the item comes back, it becomes a cut-price item on a reduced-to-clear rail - at further loss to the company.

 

Some companies are taking action to deter¹⁰ this behaviour. According to a BBC article, four in ten retailers now say they charge for returns to discourage the sending of non-faulty items. Online retail³ giant Amazon was reported to have started barring customers with too many returned items. This is something a study by retail management system Brightpearl found over half of UK fashion retailers would consider. And Barclaycard says a third of retailers have hiked their prices to cover these returns.

 

But Vicky Brock, director of data innovation at ReBound¹¹ Returns, a returns management software system, believes this isn't the best strategy. Speaking in a BBC article, she says discouraging returns shows a lack of understanding by the retailer⁴. Using data, companies can reduce returns by helping¹² customers choose better. Some companies such as Uniqlo and Asos already provide a suggested size based on the customer's previous purchases and information on height and weight. Ultimately, she says, returns are now as much a part of the shopping experience as buying things, and shops need to take this into consideration.

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