With returns of unwanted gifts expected to peak this week, we look at how retailers can improve their returns policies.
This week saw ‘Take-back Tuesday’, so called by the Royal Mail as it’s the peak day for returning Christmas gifts. Returns rates on this day were predicted to be 50% higher then an average day in December.
It’s also ‘National Returns Day‘ according to UPS, whose stats say that 5m packages are returned to retailers in the first week of January.
Though retailers would of course like to reduce the number of products coming back to them, it’s important to balance this aim with a returns policy that doesn’t deter shoppers from making a purchase in the first place.
So, simply making it harder for customers to return items with stricter policies isn’t the answer. Instead, retailers should look to address the reasons behind returns, while ensuring that processes work for customers.
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