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I was surprised that everything measured [in a recent study of online retailing] took place on the “buy” and “outbound” side of the transaction. For an online merchant, that is certainly the first set of touch points, but by no means the last, or the most important.
The return [of merchandise] is an absolutely critical touch point for direct retailers. A recent Harris Poll showed that 85% of consumers will stop buying from a brand that makes the return process inconvenient. In turn, the same survey showed that 95% of consumers will buy more if a direct retailer makes the process convenient. Yet, despite this, most retailers do not provide a best-in-class returns process. In fact, most of them simply tell their customers to return it themselves. You don't need a Harris Poll definition to know there is nothing convenient about that.
As returns are such a critical issue for direct retailers, your publication would be doing the direct retail industry a great service by raising the awareness of this often overlooked (and often not measured) customer touch point.
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