Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 26, 2023

UPS has agreed to acquire reverse-logistics solution Happy Returns from PayPal for an undisclosed amount. Happy Returns offers box-free, label-free returns for more than 800 merchant partners at over 10,000 locations across the U.S. of retail purchases (both online and in-store) were returned last year.

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Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 3, 2024

Long viewed as a necessary evil, the retail returns process is emerging as an unexpected avenue for growth and customer engagement. In the rapidly expanding ecommerce market, projected to reach $3 billion in 2023, a significant 20% to 30% of online purchases end up being returned. Speed-to-restock is key in the returns cycle.

Returns 278

Returns Drop-Shipping Customer Experience Customer Retention 278

Retail TouchPoints

JUNE 29, 2023

In Amazon ’s latest moves to bolster its logistics and fulfillment network, the company has partnered with Staples to accept customer returns and is looking for 2,500 local business to join its new Hub Delivery network. Staples Joins Amazon’s Network of Returns Partners By July 31, 2023, all Staples U.S. Retail in a statement.

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Returns Fulfillment Location Planning 287

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 14, 2023

Returns are, like it or not, as much a part of retail operations as the sales themselves. The exact return rate varies among different verticals and individual retailers, but online sales consistently generate higher levels of returns compared to brick-and-mortar. That means you’re out of business.

Returns 263

Returns Markdowns Fulfillment Consumer 263

Inside Retail

JUNE 1, 2023

Growing consumer expectations of free delivery and free returns are placing pressure on retailers who on one hand recognise customer demand, but on the other are trying to reduce their operating costs. Another strategy, she says, is to automate fulfilment. This is especially true with women’s apparel, for example. “We’ve

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Returns Shipping Promotions Fulfillment 234

Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 16, 2021

Returns provide brands and retailers the opportunity to delight their customers. market saw over $400B in returns in 2020. If this dollar value were a proxy for revenues, the returns channel would be the second largest global retailer behind Walmart. That is a significant amount of capital tied up in the returns channel!

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Returns Drop-Shipping Consumer Apparel 336

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 7, 2023

The newly combined retailer has selected the Chief Returns Officer solution from Newmine , which has a predictive analytics functionality that will help the retailer quickly analyze and take corrective actions on why customers return merchandise.

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Returns Finance Accessories Consumer 278

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 28, 2023

For many years, permissive returns policies have been the norm in ecommerce. For the post-holiday season just past, it’s estimated that the total value of returned goods will be around $171 billion. retailers were revisiting their returns policies as of late 2022. With numbers like these, it’s no wonder that most U.S.

Returns 278

Returns Home Furnishings Supply Chain Management Consumer 278

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 24, 2022

Ask any retailer or consumer and they’ll agree on this point: ecommerce returns are a problem — albeit for diametrically opposed reasons. Meanwhile, more than three in four (78%) consumers say they’ve had an inconvenient online returns experience recently, per Pitney Bowes latest BOXpoll survey.

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Returns Drop-Shipping Merchant Services Shipping 312

Retail TouchPoints

APRIL 11, 2023

Ecommerce has revolutionized retail shopping, with consumers trading in the poorly lit dressing room experience for the comfort of our own bedrooms. For some, however, this trade-off comes at the price of navigating frustrating and, at times, confusing return policies.

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Returns Customer Retention Consumer Shopping 297

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

In 2021, returns cost retailers a whopping $761 billion , or almost 17% of total U.S. This year the powerful combination of the special sale dates in Q4 (like Target, Amazon and Walmart holding October Black Friday events) and an increase in ecommerce holiday shopping means that this upward trend for returns will continue.

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Returns Markdowns Inventory Management Customer Experience 306

Retail TouchPoints

JANUARY 10, 2023

DoorDash has introduced Package Pickup, allowing consumers across the country to have the service deliver up to five return items per trip to UPS, FedEx or the USPS. Consumers can attach prepaid shipping labels to their returns or send a shipping QR code directly to their “Dasher” via the DoorDash app.

Returns 278

Returns Drop-Shipping Wholesale Shipping 278

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Online return fraud cost U.S. For every $100 in returned merchandise accepted, U.S. to return fraud, the NRF has calculated. While it is possible for shoppers to commit return fraud innocently simply by mis-reading the returns policy, a significant number of returns are the result of premeditation and malicious intent.

Returns 277

Returns Payment Services Shipping Accounting 277

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 6, 2024

Retail’s busiest returns period may be in the rearview mirror until next year, but rising ecommerce order volumes have caused returns management to become an aspect of ecommerce and omnichannel business that warrants a dedicated year-round strategy. Returns are a major cost of doing retail business of any kind, but especially online.

Customer Experience 289

Customer Experience Returns Shipping Consumer 289

Retail TouchPoints

FEBRUARY 21, 2024

Online shopping is now easier than ever before, enabling consumers to purchase everything from socks to a dining room table from a computer at their home to a mobile phone in an airport terminal. The ease of online shopping also gives consumers the ability to comparison shop more quickly, showing them more options in less time.

Shipping 280

Shipping Drop-Shipping Returns Comparison Shopping 280

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 24, 2021

With returns of online purchases rising 148% in 2020 based on year-over-year comparisons, according to the National Retail Federation , retailers are seeking to improve the shopper’s experience while also streamlining the many elements involved in processing returns.

Returns 260

Returns Fulfillment Management Consumer 260

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 4, 2023

In response to evolving consumer behavior, many retailers are pivoting from malls and large-format stores in city centers to neighborhood locations that aim to serve the work-from-home population. Not surprisingly, many have found the data points to residential enclaves in and around cities where consumers live.

Consumer 264

Consumer ATS Location Apparel 264

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 14, 2024

And despite having trouble selling tenants on the idea of a multi-story mall, which was considered a crazy idea at the time, the company moved forward with its planned addition of a second level in the 1970s. The result has been the creation of new enclaves of wealthy consumers in cities across the U.S.,

Shopping 299

Shopping Consumer Drop-Shipping Shipping 299

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 10, 2021

Fulfillment was a key driver during the ecommerce-driven final quarter of 2020. Its retail performance exceeded Moody’s analyst expectations, and margins held up well despite heavy competition from rivals like Walmart , Target and Best Buy , according to Charlie O’Shea, VP at Moody’s. Amazon’s Q4 revenue hit $125.56

Fulfillment 278

Fulfillment Drop-Shipping Apparel Shipping 278

Retail TouchPoints

MARCH 3, 2023

Consumers now look for personalization throughout their interactions with a retailer at multiple touch points. Industry leaders with expertise in customer experience have provided their stakeholders with 3X higher returns than the retailers that lack this expertise. Value added services have their own charm.

Consumer 283

Consumer Customer Experience Fulfillment Employee Engagement 283

Retail TouchPoints

MAY 11, 2021

It’s becoming increasingly clear that returns have costs that go well beyond the financial. 5 billion pounds of returned goods end up in landfills and 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide are emitted in the transportation of returns, according to research conducted by reverse logistics solution provider Optoro.

Returns 312

Returns Consumer Shopping Accounting 312

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Uber has introduced a package return service that provides consumers with live tracking within the Uber app. With this extension of the Uber Connect service, couriers will pick up prepaid, sealed packages — up to five at a time — and deliver them to a local post office, UPS or FedEx location.

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Returns Supermarket Location Consumer 162

Inside Retail

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Australian consumers have the world at their fingertips and can order from all across the globe, not only from the large international e-commerce companies but also from specialist retailers – be it fashion, electronics or sporting goods. The scope of e-commerce continues to expand at unprecedented rates.

Consumer 246

Consumer Fulfillment Sporting Goods Returns 246

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 8, 2022

Overstock.com is piloting a new returns program with UPS that will allow Overstock customers to schedule doorstep pickup for returns of unwanted items with no re-boxing required. . Initiatives like this one with UPS can go a long way in generating repeat business from our customers.”. 30, 2022, and customer count dropping 22.6%.

Home Furnishings 288

Home Furnishings Returns Marketing Consumer 288

Inside Retail

JUNE 1, 2023

Growing consumer expectations of free delivery and free returns are placing pressure on retailers who on one hand recognise customer demand, but on the other are trying to reduce their operating costs. Another strategy, she says, is to automate fulfilment. This is especially true with women’s apparel, for example. “We’ve

Returns 130

Returns Shipping Promotions Fulfillment 130

Retail TouchPoints

DECEMBER 16, 2022

The decline occurred despite muted inflation of just 0.1% , according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index (CPI). The National Retail Federation (NRF) and Appriss Retail projected that the 2022 returns rate will remain at 16.5%, nearly even with the 16.6% Additionally, the online return rate fell from 20.8%

Returns 290

Returns Home Furnishings Department Stores Customer Experience 290

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

While we’ve returned to some sense of normalcy, the VUCA [volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous] proposition has become a reality,” said Dr. Thomas Goldsby, Professor and Chair in Logistics in the Supply Chain Management Department of the University of Tennessee. Retailers have to right-size consumer expectations.

Returns 306

Returns Supply Chain Management Fulfillment Customer Experience 306

Retail TouchPoints

SEPTEMBER 3, 2020

Returns are a cost of doing business for any retailer. In the wake of COVID-19, returns are receiving serious (and necessary) attention for several key reasons: Retailers are spending more processing returns in stores. For retailers struggling to avoid bankruptcy or emerge from it, a growing returns quagmire could be deadly.

Returns 334

Returns Merchant Services Department Stores Shipping 334

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 6, 2023

With the bustling holiday shopping season nearing, many brands have spent the last several months assessing their operational strengths and weaknesses, particularly in logistics and fulfillment. 4: Return rates. Returns are an inevitable part of retail. shoppers returned more — and earlier — than in the previous holiday season.

Fulfillment 310

Fulfillment Returns Shipping Promotions 310

Retail TouchPoints

NOVEMBER 18, 2020

Mall operator Simon is launching a program that will allow consumers to quickly drop off returns from approximately two dozen brands at participating locations. More than 300 brands use the platform for online returns, including many that are also retailers in Simon properties.

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Returns Location Consumer Customer Experience 264

Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 30, 2021

Retail rode strong into Q2 2021 as shoppers returned to stores even as digital sales remained elevated. The spring and early summer was an optimistic time for many consumers who finally emerged from lockdowns looking to refresh their wardrobes and find items suited for smaller local outings during the warmer months.

Consumer 328

Consumer Fulfillment Department Stores Sporting Goods 328

Retail TouchPoints

AUGUST 28, 2023

billion consumers worldwide. For the back-to-school season, 42% of consumers say they are spending more, but 57% are trading down for lower prices,” said Caila Schwartz, Director of Consumer Insights and Strategy for Retail and Consumer Goods at Salesforce during an Aug. trillion in online sales. 22, 2023 briefing.

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Returns Fulfillment Shipping Checkout 246

Inside Retail

MARCH 19, 2024

Tara Daly, senior director of product marketing at Loop Returns , shares with Inside Retail advice on getting started in the US market, some tips on cross-border shipping and logistics – including managing returns in a way that builds customer loyalty – and how to drive repeat business. Begin with baby steps, she advocates.

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Planning Shipping Returns Customer Retention 290

Retail TouchPoints

JULY 27, 2020

As the near-term impact of the pandemic on retail employment crystalizes, participants in a recent RetailWire discussion debated how long it will take for retail employment to return to pre-pandemic levels — if it ever does — and what that means to recruitment and career paths in retail in the years ahead. Yes, some technologies (e.g.

Returns 248

Returns Fulfillment Checkout Marketing 248

Inside Retail

MARCH 24, 2024

This release will include additional features for the high-volume plan, designed to streamline fulfilment processes and offer comprehensive delivery options for organisations with high delivery volumes. ShipStation’s focus on product enhancement comes at a pivotal time in the e-commerce landscape.

Merchant Services 130

Merchant Services Drop-Shipping Checkout Fulfillment 130

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 27, 2021

But supply chain pressures and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the pandemic means that consumers are focusing less on how immersive and entertaining in-store shopping experiences are and more on how safe and efficient they are. Despite these reservations, 47% of consumers plan to shop in-store this holiday season, an 8% increase from 2020.

Consumer 264

Consumer Loss Prevention Fulfillment Store Layout 264

Retail TouchPoints

OCTOBER 15, 2021

Brands and retailers are feeling mounting pressure — from consumers, shareholders and even their boards — to be more inclusive. But it’s still true that only a small fraction of the fashion retail market has put tactical plans into place to support this significant consumer base. Inclusion Definitions Expanding Beyond Sizing.

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Consumer Merchant Services Markdowns Fulfillment 290