While many retailers are ramping up their same-day delivery offerings to meet customer demand, few have focused on bringing that same level of speed and efficiency to returns. And just as ecommerce is driving demand for faster home delivery, returns management has become a major headache for retailers and a key requirement for ensuring online and in-store customer satisfaction.
In 2021, online return rates averaged 21% according to a report by the National Retail Federation and Appriss Retail. Altogether, customers returned a whopping $761 billion in merchandise to U.S. retailers in 2021 — a sum larger than the amount spent on U.S. national defense in 2020, the report notes.
Receiving returned products, putting them back into the sales pipeline, recycling them or disposing of them costs retailers time and money. Most retailers already operate on slim margins, and as a result they may see their profits slip away when sold merchandise makes its way back to them. But if you do returns management right, you can minimize the impact on your business and delight customers with a quick returns process.
Tapping into a network of crowdsourced delivery drivers to pick up returns directly from customers can help retailers get the merchandise back into the sales pipeline sooner while also offering the same-and next-day services for returns that customers demand for new orders.
Easy returns keep them coming back
Seamless and free returns have become a draw for customers, many of whom start thinking about returns before they even hit the “buy” button. According to a survey by ecommerce solutions provider Doddle:
- 84% of shoppers said they would return to a retailer that provides a positive returns experience.
- 74% of consumers want U.S. retailers to improve their returns experiences.
- 40% would reconsider buying from a retailer that took too long to process a refund for their return.
“If customers don’t have a good returns experience at a certain company, they’re probably not going to shop there again,” said Scott Heller, business development manager at Roadie. “Yet in most cases, retailers just don’t have the physical real estate or other infrastructure to be able to accumulate and process returns.”
Retailers also have different approaches to returned merchandise. Some products can be put back into inventory and resold, but other goods may require refurbishment or need to be thrown away. Getting the returns process right means someone must receive the goods, assess them as they come in, separate them by category and then process the returns.
For retailers already dealing with labor shortages and the effects of high labor costs, strong consumer demand and overflowing warehouses, the rising return rates have placed even more of a burden on their operations.
Crowdsourcing to the rescue
Retailers know that customers expect a painless returns process. To deliver on this expectation, retailers are adding labor, allocating warehouse space and establishing reverse logistics departments. Savvy retailers are going a step further by developing their own infrastructure or updating their carrier mix to be able to pick up returns at the point of delivery — typically the customer’s home or office.
Managed internally, this approach requires a significant investment in labor and logistics infrastructure. With crowdsourcing, retailers can leverage the Roadie vast pool of on-demand, independent drivers to manage their returns logistics without breaking the bank. Here’s how it works:
- Buyers pick their desired return delivery window, which can be as soon as same-day or next-day.
- The Roadie app posts the pickup request, letting drivers know a return is ready to go.
- A driver is matched with the gig using Roadie’s algorithm and then picks up the returned merchandise at the customer’s home, office or other designated return location.
- A retailer can use the Roadie app to give directions and communicate with the driver, while the app provides real-time visibility as the returned orders are picked up and brought to the retailer’s location.
It’s that easy.
5 reasons to use crowdsourcing for returns management
Roadie’s platform enables retailers to offer same-day, last-mile returns to their customers whether the items need to go from customers back to stores, warehouses or other collection points. It also lets retailers offer at-home return pickup, which can be more convenient for customers than having to repackage the items and physically take them to a returns center or retail store.
In a world where convenience is everything, giving customers easier return options can positively influence both retention and buying behavior. Here are five ways crowdsourcing makes the returns process easier for retailers and their customers:
- It’s only there when you need it. A scalable solution with predictable costs, crowdsourced returns are typically based on a flat rate associated with a specific delivery radius. The service can be easily scaled up or down as needed. For example, a retailer may need to deal with a flood of returns during the post-holiday weeks but may not need that level of support at other times of the year. Roadie’s solution is flexible. It’s only there when you need it.
- Inventory is where it’s supposed to be. Retailers grappling with a high volume of ecommerce returns want to get goods back into the sales channel quickly, rather than letting them pile up in their stockrooms. Crowdsourcing helps companies overcome these and other last-mile challenges by ensuring inventory is always in the right place at the right time.
- You can batch your pickups. Roadie’s app offers a “reverse consolidation” service to companies that want to cluster their returns versus picking them up individually. For example, if a company has to pick up three returns from neighborhoods that are in close proximity, Roadie’s algorithm will pair one driver to retrieve all three. “The density allows us to lower the rates and customers get their returns picked up even faster,” Heller said. The Roadie matching algorithm also minimizes “empty miles” by matching drivers that may be going in that direction already to drop off orders on the same day.
- There’s no packaging required. Drivers using Roadie can use QR codes, barcodes or a photographic chain of custody to record, track and share information about the goods being picked up. That means less packaging waste for retailers and no need for customers to scramble around looking for boxes in which to pack their returns. All items are kept separate during transport, and the returns are credited correctly and reported in a way that aligns with the retailer’s own accounting system.
- You can reduce your carbon footprint. In addition to less packaging waste, crowdsourcing returns also helps companies receive, resell and reuse products that may have otherwise found their way into landfills. With U.S. retail returns creating up to 5.8 billion pounds of landfill waste each year, buying refurbished or used items helps reduce the carbon footprints of those products.
By crowdsourcing return options using Roadie, you can develop a smooth, predictable and affordable returns management process that meets your customers’ needs as well as your own. And because the returns are picked up same-day or next-day, the process can also help you quickly restock, resell and recoup your investment all while improving customers’ experience with your brand.
Want to find out how Roadie can work for you? Schedule a FREE demo today.
