You’ll know peak season is coming to a close when the influx of pre-holiday orders have been packaged and delivered to their final destinations, and now you have a bit of breathing room — right? Think again.
It’s not enough for a retailer to excel at peak season. After the surge of online orders and deliveries, retailers are put in the tricky position of coordinating smooth customer returns and getting those items back into the sales pipeline, recycled, or disposed of quickly and efficiently.
Roadie can help retailers of all sizes tap into an independent network of drivers, enabling same-day, last-mile pickups and deliveries in any market nationwide. Let’s dive into some key returns stats and explore how retailers can streamline their reverse logistics with Roadie.
Sales and returns, by the numbers
Retailers achieved record growth in 2023. According to Adobe Analytics, Cyber Monday experienced 9.6% year-over-year sales growth to $12.4 billion, and Cyber Week spending was up 7.8%, or $38 billion. That new growth was driven by net new demand despite the impacts of inflation.
Even with strong sales, the number of returns was up 14.5% during 2023, according to the National Retail Federation. To put it another way, every $1 billion in sales incurred $145 million in merchandise returns.
When it came to handling those returns, 44% of the retailers reported allocating space within their distribution centers; 30% said their individual stores manage disposition; 23% outsource to a third party; and 16% have dedicated reverse logistics centers.
According to Aftership, the 2023 returns window began on Cyber Monday and extended through the end of January. The highest monthly returns volumes over several years consistently occurred in December.
That’s not all bad news, however. Aftership also found that offering customers several flexible return options significantly improved merchants’ revenue retention rates by more than 30%.
Strategies for smoothing out the returns process
Every customer that orders online or purchases in-store expects ultrafast, hassle-free returns. Here are six ways any retailer can make the returns process smoother, retaining post-peak revenue and customer loyalty in the process:
1. Clear returns policies
Having a straightforward, easy-to-understand return policy can save you time and headaches. The more a customer knows up front, the fewer questions they’ll have during the return process. Be sure to train your employees about processing returns and clearly post up-to-date return policies in all your communications to customers.
2. Automated returns process
Use technology to automate return labels, customer notifications and tracking. By offering customers an online portal to initiate post-peak returns, you’ll reduce the time you spend on the phone, via email or in-store.
3. In-store returns for online purchases
Allowing customers to return an item in the store will save on shipping costs for all parties involved, and it gets customers into your place of business, increasing the likelihood of another purchase or item exchange.
4. Data analytics for inventory
If you see items with consistently high rates of return, it could be a sizing or quality issue. A data platform can help identify returns trends, allowing you to fix the problem and reduce your post-peak returns load.
5. Local distribution centers or warehouses
Process returns at local hubs rather than having all returns shipped to one big center. These local facilities help reduce shipping times, alleviate inventory overstocking in your brick-and-mortar locations, and get items back in stock faster.
6. Communication with your network
Ensure all stakeholders involved in the returns process — from in-store associates to warehouse workers — are ready to receive incoming returns from crowdsourced drivers and reposition or recycle that inventory.
Transform the post-peak customer experience
When the peak season rush is over, it’s time to focus on building a better customer experience. By working closely with and fostering collaboration between in-house facilities, third-party logistics (3PL) partners, and delivery solutions partners, your company can cover all its customer experience bases, from deliveries to reverse logistics.
On-demand delivery
Customers value optionality. On-demand deliveries and pick-ups are a critical differentiator in the customer experience. Whether it’s a small item or a big and bulky return, the convenience of doorstep hassle-free service can’t be overstated.
Delivery transparency
Customers want to know where their orders and returns are at all times. They increasingly value a photographic chain of custody, allowing them to track items no matter where they are.
Requested delivery and returns windows
Customers don’t want to structure their days around waiting for an order to arrive or get picked up. Additionally, nobody wants to leave an order outside for too long, where it could potentially get snatched by porch pirates. That’s why delivery and pick-up windows with selected time windows can make a major difference in customer satisfaction.
Batched and sorted
Do you have a large number of deliveries sitting at your distribution center? Seek a partner that can seamlessly allocate orders into bins or groups based on where deliveries are routed. This allows anyone in a distribution center to scan a barcode and determine where the item should be.
Optimize pickups
You should also batch your return pickups. If a single driver can pick up multiple returns from customer homes or partner dropoff points for a flat rate, you will minimize your cost per return.
The peak season rush can leave you frazzled, but the post-peak returns process doesn’t have to. Crowdsourced returns can help you smooth out all the wrinkles of reverse logistics. Roadie helps you create the most efficient returns route, helping you retain revenue while exceeding customer expectations.
