The Seamless Shopping Experience: Returns

The 2017 “UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™”, conducted by comScore and commissioned by UPS, evaluated “consumer shopping habits from pre-purchase to post-delivery” and made some interesting findings, especially with regard to returns. For example, although most customers prefer to return items in store, 75% of those surveyed had shipped returns back to the retailer. Yes, that’s three in four shoppers, and it represents an increase of seven points from 2016. Likewise, 79% said free shipping on returns was a factor in choosing where they shopped online. That’s an increase of two points from 2016.

From 2017 “UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper™” ©2017 United Parcel Service of America, Inc.

In a press release in December, titled “E-Commerce Expansion Fuels Robust Returns With National Returns Day Expected To Hit New Record“, UPS stated that consumers will return approximately 1.4 million packages to retailers on National Returns Day (likely the third of January), an increase of about 8% from this time last year. Alan Gershenhorn, Chief Commercial Officer, concluded “A simple and speedy experience should be part of the retailer’s toolkit to help increase customer loyalty while managing the cost of processing these returns.” So, the challenge for retailers is as follows: how does my company increase customer loyalty while managing the cost of processing returns? 

When it comes to branded, dynamic content, easy returns and enhancing existing back-end business processes, DuplexPackSlip® Laser Forms truly deliver. Many customers respond positively to seeing a return label in the box and using a free pre-paid label. Use DuplexPackSlip® Laser Forms to include integrated, pre-paid return labels right on the box, while also including relevant cross-sell offers or promotions to drive customers back to the store or website. eFORMz, Minisoft’s powerful forms and label generation solution, can capture and combine output from any WMS, ERP, Order Management or Shipping Solution and format it for printing on a DuplexPackSlip® Laser Form.

Interested in delivering a premium returns experience? Contact Minisoft today.