跳过导航
The Nasty Logistics of Returning Your Too-Small Pants
Article

The Nasty Logistics of Returning Your Too-Small Pants

What happens to the stuff you order online after you send it back?

The Atlantic, 2021


Editorial Rating

9

Qualities

  • Eye Opening
  • Overview
  • Concrete Examples

Recommendation

Few businesspeople care to discuss – and consumers rarely give a second thought to – the economic and environmental costs of product returns. Writing in The Atlantic, Amanda Mull explains how the “free shipping, free returns” model of online commerce enables customer overbuying, resulting in a glut of returned merchandise and logistical burdens on businesses. Retailers discard or destroy up to 25% of returns rather than restock, resell or donate them.

Summary

Online retailers have trained consumers to expect free, painless returns — leading to a glut of returned goods, especially clothing.

COVID restrictions gave online shopping a huge boost. In 2020, as much as half of all clothing purchases took place on the web. The competition for customers’ business online led to a widespread practice of offering free shipping for returns, and — no surprise — consumers take full advantage. Instead of the typical in-store return rate of less than 10%, online retailers see returns of 15% to 30%. That rate is even higher for clothing because customers often “bracket” their purchases – ordering a range of sizes – while intending to keep only what fits.

Consumers now expect “free shipping, free no-hassle returns.” Businesses give credit or blame to the online shoe retailer Zappos for its early high-profile promotion of this policy, and consumers often balk at buying from businesses that ask them to pay return shipping costs. Mega-companies such as Amazon, Target and Walmart have the logistical resources and profit margins to manage the burden of high return rates; smaller companies often do not.

“Reverse logistics” ...

About the Author

The Atlantic staff writer Amanda Mull frequently reports on consumer behavior and business trends.


Comment on this summary or 开始讨论