Complimentary White Paper
Omnichannel Retail and the Quality Risk
How quality control at the source can help prevent costly product returns for retailers.
This White Paper will give you insights about:
- The scale of problems caused by product returns in online and multichannel retail
- The impact of quality defects on online retail
- Overview of best practices for quality control at the source
The Future and Challenges of Multichannel Retail
Market researchers agree that the future of retail will belong to “evolved” retailers: online retailers with a physical presence, and traditional retailers who successfully leverage multi-channel sales. However, multi-channel retail faces one of its greatest challenges in product returns.
Online sales are particularly vulnerable to returns, both because of the simple return procedure and the increased quality risk compared to physical shopping. Quality control at the source is one of the most effective methods of preventing such direct results from product returns as loss of revenue, supply chain disruption, and reputational damage.
Product Returns: Quick Facts
- In 2015, product returns amounted to $642.6 billion
- Between 25 and 50% of products bought online are returned
- Average cost of product return: USD 8 per product
- 65% of the time, the responsibility for the return lies with the merchant, not the consumer:
- Up to 20% of online returns are caused by product defects, poor quality, or misleading product description
- Another 20% of products are returned because the wrong product was shipped
- 80% of first-time consumers do not shop with the same retailer after experiencing a return…
- …but if a retailer does not offer free returns, up to 75% will not shop with it in the first place
Download the whitepaper to learn about the full scale of the returns issue in multi-channel retail and the impact of implementing an effective quality control program at the source.
