{"id":1123284,"date":"2023-01-29T07:10:48","date_gmt":"2023-01-29T12:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/store-returns-are-becoming-a-bigger-hassle\/1123284\/"},"modified":"2023-01-29T07:10:48","modified_gmt":"2023-01-29T12:10:48","slug":"store-returns-are-becoming-a-bigger-hassle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/store-returns-are-becoming-a-bigger-hassle\/1123284\/","title":{"rendered":"Store returns are becoming a bigger hassle"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

Jennifer Howe is still holding onto gifts from Christmas she doesn’t want. Slippers that are too big, a designer perfume she’ll never wear, and candles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey look nice, but I\u2019ve never been a candle person,” she said. \u201cI\u2019m thinking about donating some of the stuff I got, or maybe re-gifting, since returning is a pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

She’s not wrong. Retailers now are making returns more challenging, more confusing, and potentially more expensive. What a difference a couple of years make.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic, retailers bent over backwards to make returns simple \u2014 and seamless \u2014 for homebound Americans. After all, retailers wanted shoppers to keep spending during what was an extremely uncertain time.<\/p>\n

Now given the healthier retail environment combined with other factors (namely the higher costs of doing business), retailers are cracking down.<\/p>\n

People shop during Black Friday sales in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., November 25, 2022. (REUTERS\/Jim Vondruska)<\/figcaption>
Jim Vondruska \/ reuters<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

In fact, according to goTRG<\/a>, a logistics company focused on returns, 6 in 10 retailers changed their returns policies in the last year alone.<\/p>\n

Among the changes: shorter refund and return windows, shipping fees, restocking fees, and other surprises, said Shender Shamiss, president and CEO of goTRG.<\/p>\n

Consumers like Nick Mueller are finding that out the hard way.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI recently tried to return an article of clothing from REI, and was surprised to find out there was a $6 charge,\u201d Mueller said.<\/p>\n

\u201cReturns have just gotten too costly and retailers are trying to protect their margins,\u201d said George Trantas, Sr., director of global marketplaces at Avalara<\/a>, a leading provider of cloud-based tax compliance automation for businesses of all sizes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cost of returns could be upwards of $30 per item. You\u2019ve got the outbound shipping costs, plus labor costs, plus return shipping, plus the labor costs of putting the item back on shelves and then the first markdown,\u201d he said. \u201cHow can retailers recoup that original price? They can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shamiss concurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe process of shipping an item back can take away as much as 85% of the value,\u201d Shamiss said.<\/p>\n

The return problem has been brewing for some time, but has now reached the \u201ctipping point,\u201d said Trantas.<\/p>\n

\"DALY
A woman carries shopping bags as she looks at a window display at Serramonte Center on December 15, 2022 in Daly City, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>
Justin Sullivan via Getty Images<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Consider this past holiday season.<\/p>\n

On average, retailers expected 17.9% of merchandise sold during the holiday shopping season to be returned, according to the National Retail Federation\u2019s most recent data. That\u2019s up from 16.6% in 2021 and comes to about $171 billion.<\/p>\n

Fewer businesses are in a position to be able to afford such a hefty price tag.<\/p>\n

Online returns are the most problematic, said Shamiss.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is where the challenges are,” Shamiss said. “\u2018Bracketing\u2019 where you buy like five shirts, keep one, and send back the rest, has been one of the big contributors of these problems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Retailers like Zara, H&M, and other chains have had enough. They\u2019re now charging fees of up to $7 to return items online. Other retailers are encouraging consumers to make returns in stores, said Trantas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s one part of the solution because driving a customer to the store will increase foot traffic, may create a secondary sale, and can increase loyalty,” Trantas said. “Just a 5% increase in loyalty can increase sales by up to 95%.”<\/p>\n

Greater transparency \u2014 and communication \u2014 is also needed, said Trantas.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRetailers have to be very clear about their return policies to eliminate any consumer dissatisfaction and friction,” Trantas said. \u201cThe new norm is ‘know the policies.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Personal finance journalist Vera Gibbons is a former staff writer for SmartMoney magazine and a former correspondent for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance. Vera, who spent over a decade as an on-air financial analyst for MSNBC, currently serves as co-host of the weekly nonpolitical news podcast she founded, <\/em>NoPo<\/em><\/a>. She lives in Palm Beach, Florida.<\/em><\/p>\n

Get the latest personal finance news, tips and guides from <\/em><\/strong>Yahoo Money<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Follow Yahoo Finance on <\/em><\/strong>Twitter<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>Instagram<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>YouTube<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>Facebook<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, <\/em><\/strong>Flipboard<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and <\/em><\/strong>LinkedIn<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

From:AOL<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jennifer Howe is still holding onto gifts from Christmas she doesn’t want. Slippers that are too big, a designer perfume she’ll never wear, and candles….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1123284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbimBl-4Idu","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1123284"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1123284\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1123284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1123284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1123284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}