Most online consumers keep the majority of what they buy, opting not to take advantage of returns, according to new data from Digital Commerce 360 and Bizrate Insights.
In fact, about two-thirds of consumers (66.27%) return just 5% or less of what they buy online, survey data of 999 shoppers shows. Another 14.31% said they return 6% to 10% of what they purchase.
The full version of this article, with all its charts, is available to members. It is also available in the 2024 Edition of the Ecommerce Fulfillment Report.
How many returns will consumers make in 2024?
And in general, consumers expect to take advantage of returns the same amount or less frequently in 2024 compared to last year. But the frequency changes depending on the type of return.
Overall, nearly six in 10 consumers (59.66%) said they expect to return about the same amount of items in 2024 as they did in 2023. About half that amount (30.83%) said they expect to return less products overall in 2024.
The numbers differ when it comes to making returns at physical stores. The amount of shoppers who expect to return fewer products to physical stores is similar to the overall rate at 30.03%. However, more than half (55.06%) said they expect the amount of returns they make to be about the same in 2024 as 2023. And 14.91% said they expect to make more returns at physical stores this year.
Similarly, more than half of consumers (53.85) said they expect to ship the same amount of orders back to online retailers in 2024. About a third (32.83%) said they plan to ship fewer products back, and 13.31% said they expect to ship more products back to retailers this year.
Although the minority, some consumers expect to take advantage of alternative returns options in 2024. Some see themselves returning more Amazon orders to physical stores like Kohl’s and Whole Foods. Others expect to return more non-Amazon orders to another physical location such as Happy Returns (10.41%), or to a drop-off point at a retailer such as Walgreens (11.61%).
What makes a consumer decide to return products from online orders?
Free return shipping is the biggest factor consumers take into consideration when deciding whether to keep an item they ordered online, the survey found, with two-thirds citing it (66.77%). Directly related is the cost of return, which just under half cited (48.35%).
Convenience is the next most important factor, with 46.15% of consumers citing it. And tied to that is the retailer’s return policy, which more than a third (35.04%) cited.
More than a quarter of consumers (28.13%) care how long it takes them to return an order, or how long it takes the retailer to process the return and credit the consumer’s account (25.83%).
Why consumers like free returns
The predominant reason consumers like free returns is peace of mind, which more than half cited (55.76%). Furthermore, it allows them to make risk-free purchases, which just over half cited (50.65%).
It’s also the principle, 40.14% of consumers said. They said they don’t think it should cost them anything if they don’t want to keep an item they purchased.
Moreover, consumers don’t like wondering what return fees might be, a third said (33.53%). And when it comes to Apparel & Accessories, many order multiple items to decide what size or color is right for them, more than a fifth said (21.62%). Some consumers don’t have easy access to stores or shipping locations (17.82%), so paying for return shipping is furthering their inconvenience.
What frustrates consumers about returning online orders
It comes down to money. Nothing frustrates consumers more about returning items they purchased online than having to pay for return shipping (50.25%), survey data shows. They don’t want to pay a restocking fee (42.74% cited) or have high fees even associated with the return shipping (33.73%). And when the consumer returns her order, she doesn’t want it to take more than a week to receive her credit (26.13%).
But if there are going to be costs to return an online order, consumers want transparency (23.92%). They want to know how much it’ll cost to make a return before they start the process.
Yet money isn’t the only frustrating part when it comes to returns. More than a fifth of consumers (23.42%) don’t like interacting with chat bots to handle returns. Similarly, 22.22% said they dislike when it’s difficult to reach customer service representatives.
Policy is key, too. 22.32% of consumers said it frustrates them when online retailers have restrictive return policies — supplemented by 17.32% being frustrated when they can’t quickly find the policy in the first place, or when a return policy is difficult to understand (14.11%). For 19.82%, frustration with policy includes being unable to return online purchases in a physical store location. On that same note, 18.12% are annoyed when it’s inconvenient to return an item to a store location.
Looking back at the past six months
Most respondents said they had not seen a difference in return policies over the past ix months, or that they’re about the same as last year. About a quarter of them said retailers are adding restrictions to their return policies, though.
Close to a quarter of respondents (24.12%) said they found that more online retailers are highlighting their return policies. Less than a fifth (18.92%) said more online retailers are hiding their return policies, and the remainder said they hadn’t noticed a difference.
And whereas most hadn’t seen a difference when it comes to online marketplace returns either (58.16%), some said they found that Amazon and its marketplace sellers have added restrictions to their return policies. Similarly, 21.22% said marketplaces other than Amazon have added restrictions to their return policies.
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