Three Strategies for Optimizing Your Results in “Returnuary”
January marks the start of a brand new year. That means consumers everywhere are making resolutions, joining gyms, journaling, cutting back on alcohol and calories, and engaging in other self-improvement activities. Unfortunately for the world’s retailers, consumers are also returning products. A lot of products….
Making Retail Returns Greener Is Always in Fashion
Sustainability is an increasing concern for every retail business, and for a good reason. Food, apparel, textiles, packaging materials and other consumer products not only cause environmental impacts as they’re produced and transported, but they often end up in landfills. With their trendy offerings and…
Fashion Returns Fraud Is Growing — But Digitalization Helps Retailers Fight Back
Product returns are an expensive, and growing, problem for fashion retailers. According to a report by Appriss Retail and the National Retail Federation (NRF), total returns for the retail industry amounted to $743 billion in merchandise in 2023, creating huge reverse logistics costs. For fashion…
Keep or Return? Fashion Influencers Have Created a Costly Trend for Retailers
It’s no secret that product returns are one of the biggest challenges facing the world’s retailers — especially retailers of fashion apparel. Clothing trends and product seasons come and go with increasing speed today. That means fashion retailers must get returned products back in stores,…
5 Steps for Retailers to Optimize Marketplace Returns and Protect Their Brand
In our last marketplaces post, we covered why many retailers are establishing marketplaces for third-party sellers to offer their products through. The opportunities for growth are undeniable, but there are challenges to overcome to maximize the marketplace approach. Foremost among them is the question of…
Why Retailer-Owned Marketplaces are Taking Over – and What to Watch Out For
The number of retailer-owned third-party marketplaces, in which retailers list products from other sellers within their platform or website, has risen over the past few years. Many big-name retailers now have their own marketplace platforms, including Tesco, Boots, Superdrug, B&Q, and The Range in the…
Retailers Beware: Returns Fraud on the Rise As Criminals Get More Creative
Returns already have a significant impact on retailers’ bottom line. National Retail Federation (NRF) data reveals that for every $1 billion in sales, retailers incur an average of $145 million in merchandise returns. To make matters worse, returns fraud is also on the rise. Last…
How To Sharpen Up Your Customer Focus With Returns Feedback
Steve Jobs was desperate to make Apple focus on customers. “Some people say, ‘Give the customers what they want.’ But that’s not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they’re going to want before they do.” That’s a classic Jobs quote you’re probably…
How To Talk to Customers About Returns
As in so many things, communication is key when dealing with e-commerce returns. Marketers often discuss brand touchpoints, meaning the website, physical store locations, advertisements, sponsorships, and most crucially, when using, wearing or owning the product. However, one under-appreciated and crucially important brand touchpoint is…
Adding a Decade of First and Last Mile Lessons to Blue Yonder’s Future
Having spent a decade (which I recognize is not a massively long time in this industry!) working in the front line of the first and last mile, I wanted to discuss some of the key changes I’ve seen from our unique perspective as Doddle –…