`Return to Sender' for Online Shoppers Seen as Costly and Difficult PricewaterhouseCoopers' Survey Reports.Business/Internet Editors COLUMBUS Columbus. 1 City (1990 pop. 178,681), seat of Muscogee co., W Ga., at the head of navigation on the Chattahoochee River; settled and inc. 1828 on the site of a Creek village. , Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2000 The good news for online retailers is that few shoppers actually return items purchased from online sites and those that do are not so dissatisfied dis·sat·is·fied adj. Feeling or exhibiting a lack of contentment or satisfaction. dis·sat  is·fied with the return process that it adversely affects future
shopping behavior with that specific retailer. The bad news, however, is
that many more would make a return but are turned off by the expense and
hassle Hassle () is a location in Närke, Sweden, where a Celtic treasure was found in 1936.It comprises a large bronze cauldron which contained two Bronze Age swords of the Hallstatt type, a pommel of bronze, two bronze buckets with of the process. A recent survey conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest professional services (job) professional services - A department of a supplier providing consultancy and programming manpower for the supplier's products. organisation, indicates that to enhance customer satisfaction with the return process, online retailers should aim to make the process cheaper and quicker/easier for the online shopper. "Minimizing the rate of return is obviously desirable for any online retailer," comments Mary Mary, the mother of Jesus Mary, in the Bible, mother of Jesus. Christian tradition reckons her the principal saint, naming her variously the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Lady, and Mother of God (Gr., theotokos). Her name is the Hebrew Miriam. Brett n. 1. Same as Britzska. Whitfield, Columbus-based Principal Consultant and Director of the E-Retail Intelligence System(R). "But if the mechanism used to lower return rates is making the process harder than it is already, customer satisfaction is sure to wane. That appears to already be the case for some online purchasers," she adds. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a recent survey of Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f , only four percent of online purchasers reported returning their most recent online purchase and 29 percent have ever returned a non-business product purchased from an online shopping site. However, 41 percent of online purchasers have wanted to return a product purchased from an online shopping site, but decided that it was just too much of a hassle to do so. For online retailers, the implication is that return rates are not the best measure of customer dissatisfaction with an online purchase. Why Are Returns Made? With so many online purchasers wanting to return products, it is critical for online retailers to understand why. More than any other reason, online purchasers return products simply because they are not what the consumer expected. This suggests that there are plenty of opportunities for online retailers to make advancements in realistically representing the products that they sell. Reasons for Returning Online Purchases(a) (among respondents that have ever returned a product) Product not what I expected 40% Product broken/damaged 31% Product quality not as expected 31% Right product shipped, but wrong characteristics 27% Wrong product shipped 26% Decided that I simply did not want product 19% Arrived too late 17% Received only part of an order 7% (a) Multiple responses accepted. (Source: E-Retail Intelligence System(R)Internet Users Consumer Panel, June 2000, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP LLP - Lower Layer Protocol .) What's Wrong With the Return Process? The most common complaint among Internet users with regard to returns is having to pay for return postage POSTAGE. The money charged by law for carrying letters, packets and documents by mail. By act of congress of March 3, 1851, Minot's Statute at Large, U. S. 587, it is enacted as follows: 2.-Sec. 1. . When asked to identify the three biggest problems associated with returning online purchases, two-thirds of Internet users identified having to pay for return postage. Nearly half of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. identified the fact that returning an online purchase requires a trip to the post office, UPS or FedEx pick-up location. Not being able to return products to a store came in as the third biggest problem, demonstrating the inherent advantage enjoyed by multi-channel retailers. "The leading problems mentioned by respondents point to two primary culprits - money and time," comments Whitfield. "To enhance customer satisfaction with the return process, online retailers should aim to make the process cheaper and quicker/easier." What Do Online Shoppers Expect? Internet users expect most online shopping sites to offer numerous fulfillment ful·fill also ful·fil tr.v. ful·filled, ful·fill·ing, ful·fills also ful·fils 1. To bring into actuality; effect: fulfilled their promises. 2. capabilities. E-mail communication capabilities top the list with 75 percent or more respondents indicating that they expect most online retailers to use e-mail messages to verify (1) To prove the correctness of data. (2) In data entry operations, to compare the keystrokes of a second operator with the data entered by the first operator to ensure that the data were typed in accurately. See validate. order receipt, order shipment and to advise of any products placed on back order. E-mail capabilities are especially important to online purchasers who have ever returned a product, suggesting that satisfaction with this capability may be necessary for repeat business. Nearly half of respondents expect most online retailers to provide the option of returning products to a local store. This factor was significantly more likely to be identified by Internet users who wanted to return an online purchase, but decided that it was too much of a hassle. Not being able to return a product to a brick and mortar See bricks and mortar. store is clearly a hassle for some online purchasers. How Are Online and "On-Land" Retailers Impacted? The good news for online retailers is that more often than not online purchasers making returns are not so dissatisfied with the return process that it adversely affects future shopping behavior with that specific retailer. In fact, over half of online purchasers who have returned products indicate that their return experience(s) at a specific online shopping site had no affect on their future shopping behavior at that site. However, one in three also said that they are less likely to shop at that specific online shopping site. On-land shopping behavior is even less likely to be impacted by undesirable experiences online. Just 17 percent indicate that their return experience(s) at a specific online shopping site negatively impacted the likelihood of them shopping at that specific company's stores or catalogs. Every month, the PricewaterhouseCoopers E-Retail Intelligence System(R) surveys approximately 500 Internet users regarding online shopping behaviour and attitudes and Internet Internet Publicly accessible computer network connecting many smaller networks from around the world. It grew out of a U.S. Defense Department program called ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network), established in 1969 with connections between computers at the usage. The most recent survey was fielded from June 28 to July 8 among Internet users using NFO's Interactive Panel. Most survey respondents access the Internet at least weekly for non-business use. PricewaterhouseCoopers (www.pwcglobal.com) is the world's largest professional services organisation. Drawing on the knowledge and skills of more than 150,000 people in 150 countries, we help our clients solve complex business problems and measurably meas·ur·a·ble adj. 1. Possible to be measured: measurable depths. 2. Of distinguished importance; significant: a measurable figure in literature. enhance their ability to build value, manage risk and improve performance in an Internet-enabled world. PricewaterhouseCoopers refers to the member firms of the worldwide PricewaterhouseCoopers organisation. The name PricewaterhouseCoopers is one word, with upper case P, upper case C, and all other letters in lower case. |
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