Every holiday season, there’s always that one gift that a person may receive that wasn’t quite what they were looking for. Luckily, if the gift included a receipt, that person could always tip-toe to the store to secretly return it or exchange it for something more desirable.
This holiday season, retailers have had enough with shipping and handling returns. Holiday shoppers will encounter more “returnless” or “keep it” policies for unwanted products if returns costs are more expensive than their value, according to a report from returns services firm goTRG.
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The report includes a survey where over 500 retailers in the U.S. were interviewed on the challenges they face and policies they plan to implement associated with processing returns in time for the holidays. The survey found that 49% of retailers believe that returns are a “severe problem,” which is a huge increase from the 2% of retailers who indicated it was a serious issue in last year’s survey.
The report cites that an increase in online shopping, lax return policies and rising return costs have contributed to the shift in attitude from retailers regarding processing returns.
Since processing costs are so high, 59% of retailers in the survey have adopted “keep it” policies, which allows to keep the item as well as receive a refund. 68% of retailers claim that the policies can help them offset oversupply issues, which they say are much higher than they were in 2022.
Customers can also expect to come across shorter return windows this holiday season, as 42% of retailers in the survey said that they are planning to reduce the amount of time allowed for an item to be returned. Also, if customers do want to return items, they should also anticipate being slapped with a return fee as roughly half of the survey respondents plan to enforce one.
The crackdown on return policies can be a risky move as customers are already pulling back on spending due to a tense economy, and stricter return policies can exacerbate the problem.
For example, a survey from supply chain company Blue Yonder found that 60% of the consumers that were interviewed viewed stricter return policies as “inconvenient or unfair.” Also, 59% of respondents said that the strict policies discouraged them from making a purchase.
“The No. 1 reason customers don’t make repeat purchases is bad return policies,” said goTRG CEO Sender Shamiss in a recent CBS interview.
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