Gift-giving during the holidays is a lot like … well, pretty much everything else in life. Namely, you pay your money, you take your chances. To that end, at least some retailers are gearing up for returns: the retailing process where what you want is not what you get, but all is not lost. The pandemic, to be sure, has changed the very way consumers give and receive – and take recourse when not satisfied.
At least some marquee names in commerce had shifted their return policies amid public health concerns. Back in March, for example, Target had said it would not be accepting in-store returns. But just this week, as reported by Yahoo! Finance, a store representative stated that “Target accepts returns at our stores, and most unopened items in new condition and returned within 90 days will receive a refund or exchange. Target.com purchases can also be returned by mail using our online return center.”
This speaks to an omnichannel approach to returning items in a way that is mindful of customers’ preferences. Elsewhere, other companies are sticking to relatively stricter policies. Yahoo! also reported that Costco has said it is no longer accepting returns on items such as rice, Lysol and other staples of the pandemic (yes, we note these are not gifts in and of themselves, unless you know someone for whom paper towels are a quicker-picker-upper of a stocking stuffer).
The two firms’ policies show a bit of a balancing act that any company must take in serving the consumer, and spotlight the fact that the coronavirus still lingers as a determining factor in day-to-day operations.
And against this backdrop, retailers are bracing for what might be a record season of returns. Last month, Returnly, which focuses on direct-to-consumer processes, said that it launched In-Store Returns – billed as a solution that lets retailers and other merchants “offer safe, convenient online return drop-offs at brick-and-mortar locations.” The inventory can immediately be added back to in-store locations or shipped back to warehouses.
Doing Away With ‘Dead’ Inventory
In a statement, Eduardo Vilar, CEO and founder of Returnly, noted that “even the most efficient retailers experience dead inventory during the best of times, and the coronavirus pandemic has created new delays and frustrations for merchants and customers alike. With more shoppers relying on online shopping – and often purchasing more merchandise than actually needed – brands have far more unsold inventory in circulation and customers have less access to merchandise.”
Elsewhere, as reported by PYMNTS last month, customer experience platform Narvar is partnering with real estate investment trust Simon to facilitate easier retail returns. As reported, the new service enables customers to drop off returns from about two dozen brands at 80,000 participating Simon locations. One-third of shoppers have dropped off returns at third-party locations, according to a survey by Narvar, as noted by the companies as part of the announcement.
In an interview with PYMNTS earlier in the year, Narvar CEO Amit Sharma said that even before consumers make the decision to commit to a purchase, “they are investigating their options, and if they’re not clear on what will be done in the case of a return, they might not even place the order. So, shipping and returns definitely impact the customer experience, the customer strategy and even the top-line sales. If you don’t send the expectation around shipping and returns, they might not even place the order.”
By promoting omnichannel conduits to get those unwanted gifts off consumers’ hands, then, retailers can make sure those sales are, in fact, completed.
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