Many shoppers, who love the opportunity to browse for new looks from the comfort of home, treat flexible return policies as a virtual fitting room—ordering multiple items with the intention of returning most of them. This practice, known as bracketing, is a common type of return policy abuse, Loop said in a note.
More than half of all merchants in Loop, a post purchase operations platform for Shopify brands, fall into the apparel category.
Loop found that nearly 40 per cent of shoppers have, or know someone who has, engaged in returns fraud or abuse within the past year.
Swimwear is the most return-prone of all categories.
Intimate wear brands face challenges similar to swimwear merchants during returns.
Its Fraud Consumer Report found that nearly 40 per cent of shoppers have, or know someone who has, engaged in returns fraud or abuse within the past year.
Other returns are more innocuous: Maybe the product didn’t fit correctly, or the consumer noticed a product defect. Whatever the case, it’s important to optimise your returns process to maximise revenue retention from returns, cautions Loop.
Swimwear is the most return-prone of all categories tracked by Loop. Often, shoppers want to test out a few different swimsuits before committing to a single purchase, or they might purchase an item but not be happy once they see how it looks on them.
Brands that sell intimates face challenges similar to swimwear merchants as far returns are concerned as hygiene standards come into picture.
When it comes to intimate products like bras, returns often come down to a poor fit. To reduce return rate of intimate wear, Loop suggests retailers to focus on providing detailed customer education materials that give your shoppers tips on how to self-measure their bodies for different products.
It recommends retailers to include a customer reviews section, where shoppers can share their feedback on whether a product runs small, large, or true to size; and can provide their thoughts on comfort and style.
By arming your shoppers with the data to make the right decisions, they’ll be prepared to make better choices the first time around, Loop says.
Finding the right fit is notoriously difficult when it comes to shoes, especially if the shopper is testing out a new brand for the first time. Sizing can be very different from brand to brand.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
