Retailers’ Gift-Return Problem Has a High-Tech Solution
Store owners can use big-data tactics to tackle the challenge of managing costly merchandise returns.
A peak time for returns.
Photographer: Joe Raedle/Getty Images North AmericaThere are a number of problems that retail executives don’t much like discussing, but I’m hard-pressed to think of one they’re more tight-lipped about than their rate of merchandise returns.
Our post-holiday gifting hangover tends to be a peak time for returns, exacerbating a problem that’s grown more vexing for retailers with the rise of e-commerce: People often order a ton of stuff with the intention of keeping just one or two items, and retailers frequently foot the bill for the return shipping, crimping the profitability of the order. Apparel gifts, in particular, are often coming back through retailers’ doors at this time of year.