Online retailers need to do a better job with returns and exchanges
Despite more customers buying products online, many retail merchants still have archaic and inaccessible return policies for internet purchasers.
Management consultancy Kurt Salmon recently analyzed the return processes of the 50 top retailers across the nation. While a number of ecommerce sites ranked well in terms of checkout experience, presentation and shipping, few excelled when it came to returns and exchanges.
"We found that many retailers got high marks in shopping and shipping, but fell short on returns," said Kurt Salmon retail strategist Megan Donadio. "Some retailers required the customer to fill out tiresome paperwork and wait in line at the post office, while others failed to provide any type of tracking method or took weeks to process refunds.”
Only three brands – Amazon, Sephora and Saks Fifth Avenue – achieved the agency's top ratings.
It's crucial that retail merchants provide a satisfactory shopping experience through the process, from initial log on to exchange. Not doing this gives a business' competitors a means to leapfrog it in terms of meeting their customers' needs.
