Page 13 - CBM17

~ PostNL ~

easy to incorporate into your shop. Show multiple photos of THE E-TAILORS PERSEPCTIVE
the item at different angles, in use and up close. This is also
a great place for reviews and other customer testimonials. If Returns done right: a conversation with
more than half of previous customers found that a certain Robert Jan Peters, the founder and co-
sweater ran small, you can safely suggest a different size to owner of Dutch-based Passa Sports.
other shoppers.
“A return is the final part of the
It’s also important to gather information, as many items come purchasing process; the last experience
back undelivered. Checking the accuracy of a shipping address with the company the customer will
is a good move; an address check API at the point of sale can remember. If the customer has an
help. excellent experience from start to
finish, even if returned the goods and
Tackling poor customer behaviour we didn’t earn anything, then it’s likely that the customer will order from
We’ve all ordered several items online with the intention us again.”
of returning one of them. But some buyers make it a habit.
What about the customer who regularly orders ten pairs Sportshop.com is the leading sports retailer in the Netherlands. Orders from
of shoes only to return nine? Returning a blender that has abroad are nearly 30% and growing with Germany and Sweden leading
clearly been used for a special event? These are the actions of the pack. Those orders are larger with fewer returns; about 12%. This
serial returners. combination makes international sales very attractive.

Shoppers aged 18-34 are some of the worst offenders. “We ask customers abroad to alert us in advance of their intention to return.
German online retail giant Zalando reports return rates of We can see what the customer wants to return and give instructions to
up to 50%6. Some 22% of these shoppers confess that they’ve drop off the parcel locally. PostNL has a good European network and offers
intentionally bought more items than they intended to keep7. a consistent returns solution throughout. For many of our orders, we use
Even retail giant Amazon announced that it was considering PostNL returns solutions with a self-print label.
imposing a lifetime ban on customers that habitually return
merchandise, as they represent a net drain on the company’s “Providing detailed information to the buyer at the point of sale and
bottom line. keeping those lines of communication open with the buyer during the entire
returns process is key. Not all our international buyers speak good English,
This is a difficult balancing act. Most shoppers buy and return so we try to offer support in their local language as needed.
in good faith, so it’s important not to punish loyal, responsible
actors to reduce serial returning from a few. Good data can “Domestic returns are freethis includes Belgium and Sweden, since we have
help find the patterns and pick these customers out of the distribution points thererunning about 35% of all sales. Buyers in France,
crowd. These individuals can be asked to cover some of their Spain, Portugal and other countries are expected to pay their own shipping
own shipping costs or pay a percentage back for every item costs for returns or exchanges, so they are more careful buyers.
returned.
“We are still shipping to the UK, but are taking a wait-and-see attitude
Reach out to serial returners on a human level. Show them before expanding this market. Brexit has complicated matters, increasing
their own shopping and returning history; the numbers shipping times by 1-2 days and there are still issues with customs. But
often speak for themselves. If retailers explain the effect their eventually, this will sort itself out and processes will run smoothly again.
behaviour has on the environment, on their favourite shop
and on pricing in general, often they can convert a serial “In the future I would like to see returns and exchanges proceed more
returner into a responsible buyer. Serial returners buy a lot quickly in our international markets. Once the buyer pre-alerts the return
online, and once they clean up their act, they can become item, the weight and size of this item can be checked at the drop-off point
valuable customers. Advocates, even. to see if the return is on the way, without anyone opening the parcel en
route. We would already be able to start the return or exchange process with
International returns this simple check and shave a few days off the shipping times.”
What about when a shipment crosses a border? Given Brexit
and the ongoing complications due to the coronavirus, many
e-tailers are choosing not to offer international returns or convenient return label nor the option to print it out on a
avoid shipping to certain countries. Many e-tailers don’t customer history page8.
take the returns preferences of each destination country into
account. While international returns might seem complex,
understanding the process and making a few small
In general, 9% of international purchases are returned, adjustments can make international returns just as easy as
but more than 25% of these shipments did not include a those carried out in-country. International returns can be

13