How are you leveraging your WMS KPIs? The answer can dictate your level of success in ecommerce and direct-to-consumer (DTC) fulfillment operations performance. The post-holiday peak period is the right time to assess your data and KPIs to help you measure performance and the bottom-line impact of process changes.
Taking advantage of a growing preference for boxless returns, FedEx is rolling out a consolidated returns program early this year aimed at providing the service for small-to-medium-sized merchants in addition to major retailers. While FedEx has a relationship with Happy Returns, it provides all the logistics for this new offering.
The rate of returns from retail purchases is expected to remain relatively flat this year compared to 2021, at 16.5%, with store and ecommerce returns roughly equal as the latter figure has improved, according to a report from the National Retail Federation and Apriss Retail.
FloorFound has expanded its nationwide recommerce network, including five facilities totaling 500,000 square feet of space and business intelligence software that helps retailers determine the best channel for maximizing resale value, plus an integration with project44’s supply chain platform.
While not ideal, ecommerce returns are an inevitable part of business. But your job is to see them as an opportunity to turn problems into positive brand experiences. And the gains from retaining a customer for life far outweigh the cost of a single refund. See them as not just an expense, but as opportunities for positive customer experiences.
Despite all the attention paid to skyrocketing returns, most retailers in 2022 still treat them as simply the cost of doing business instead of as a strategic focus area and opportunity for a stepped-up customer experience, and the numbers of a new report bear out that approach.
Amazon is testing a program that will require sellers who fulfill their own returns to offer UPS as a return shipping option for customers, in addition to the less expensive U.S. Postal Service they had been using exclusively. The test will run Sept. 5-Oct. 2 in order to “understand buyer behavior,” Amazon said. Naturally, sellers are not amused.
For lower-priced products or some less expensive bulky items, returnless refunds can be cheaper than shipping the item back, restocking, selling and shipping again. But this also has its own risks, with the potential to encourage malicious shopper behavior and opening another avenue for scammers trying to score free stuff.
Home improvement shopping season is in full swing. Unfortunately, spring is also a sign that retailers are entering one of the most logistically challenging and costly returns seasons of the year. Here is a review of major returns issues following home improvement season, and what retailers can do to mitigate the fallout.
PayPal is extending returns services through its Happy Returns unit for free to all PayPal Checkout merchant customers, while also naming Ulta Beauty as an in-store returns bar partner, adding 1,300 locations and bringing the total to more than 5k in the U.S. The returns portal is also localized to 8 languages for EU and Canada.