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Trunk Time may be Costing You

Does anyone actually like returns?

Ecommerce retailers are looking for ways to minimize the bottom line impact of returns — some even forgoing recovering the product to save on shipping costs. Meanwhile, an astonishing 78% of consumers surveyed in BOXpoll™ from Pitney Bowes said their most recent online returns were inconvenient. A dislike of returns may be one of the most unifying sentiments in our culture today.

And yet, not since fiber supplements has something that tasted so bad been so essential: 80% of consumers rated the returns experience as “important” to their online shopping experience — tied for the #1 spot with the seminal experience of ‘unboxing’ a delivered package. In fact, our BOXpoll surveys found that 38% of consumers have held back from purchasing because they expect the returns experience with a given retailer to be a hassle.

And for those retailers looking for a reprieve as the pandemic (fingers crossed) begins to subside — sorry: 77% of consumers say they will return online purchases at the same or higher rate versus what they do now.

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With returns playing such a critical role in conversions and loyalty, we asked consumers to tell us how they defined an “inconvenient” returns experience. Their most common complaint was centered around retailers not including a return label in the shipping box. This is driven by 61% of consumers who either don’t own a printer or prefer not to use it to print shipping labels.

One in five disliked being charged for returns shipping, and 19% wished they didn’t have to wait as long for refunds to be issued; 16% complained about a lack of visibility from retailers about the status of their refund, while 13% mentioned the hassle, time and effort to drop off a return package at a carrier location.

Consumers Hold on to Returns for Almost a Week

We know that consumers like home pickup — 41% report that home pickup is their preferred way of returning something — but nearly one in every three consumers lives in a location where home pickup is not available, so dropping off an item themselves can feel like the best and cheapest option. When asked to rank drop-off locations, consumers were most likely to choose the U.S. Post Office as their preferred location (33%), followed by retail stores (21%), UPS locations (19%), FedEx locations (13%), parcel lockers (8%) and shopping mall kiosks (5%).

Given friction around printing shipping labels and home pickup, consumers put off returns more than retailers would like. In what we’ve termed trunk time, U.S. consumers are holding on to items they plan to return for an average of six days before actioning the item — an increase of two days since we last asked the question before the pandemic. Trunk time varied according to demographics, per our BOXpoll survey. Among higher-income consumers, trunk time rose to 10 days. For millennials, parents and urban dwellers, trunk time reached an average of eight days.

Every day a product sits in a consumer’s trunk is a day it’s not being resold. No retailer wants to be encumbered with last season’s inventory, which is difficult to sell or in unsaleable condition. And when consumers eventually do drop off their item, you can bet they’ll expect a fast refund; one in four consumers will call customer service within four days if they haven’t received an update about their refund. Overall, consumers will wait an average of nine days before calling.

Plans for Migration to Less Populated Areas Create Further Challenges for In-Person Returns

New BOXpoll data reveals another factor for retailers to consider: one in three Americans either plans to move in the next 12 to 18 months (17%) or is undecided about staying in their current residence (15%). Gen Z adults, millennials and city residents are most likely to move, and one-third of all movers say they are heading to less densely populated locations.

If retailers are to continue to offer in-person returns, this would have significant implications on their planning and logistics infrastructure, with the need to rethink placement of hubs, kiosks and other drop-off return locations. If it becomes less convenient for consumers to drop off returns in person, further distance to drop-off points is likely to extend trunk time even further.

The Opportunity for Retailers

With 42% of consumers saying they will shop online more often after the pandemic, the challenges presented by customer returns are going nowhere. Whether trunk time decreases remains to be seen. We could see the opposite effect, as consumers get wrapped up again in their busy lives once we return to relative normality and packages stay in trunks for longer.

Here’s what we advise retailers do to address the trunk time challenge and deliver best-in-class returns:

  • Offer choice. Empower your buyers with the ability to choose the return option that best suits them. Remember that preferences can differ by demographic segment.
  • Don’t make assumptions about whether consumers have a printer accessible. Make a printer-less option available.
  • Look for ways to offer refunds faster without encouraging fraud. Offer an option for store credit with faster turnaround time, or a refund to original payment method after the return has been processed. See if your returns vendor provides you with weight verification during the transportation leg to mitigate fraud risk for a faster refund.
  • Get help. Teaming with a partner that specializes in both returns logistics and technology allows you to not have to play system integrator or deal with finger-pointing when something goes wrong.

No one may love returns, but getting this right may get people loving your brand because of your returns.


Vijay Ramachandran is VP of Marketing Strategy and Planning for Pitney Bowes Global Ecommerce. He has two decades of experience in helping retailers understand and innovate with ecommerce logistics and technology. Prior to his current role, Ramachandran led market strategy and client engagements involving ecommerce and retail systems, including order management, warehouse management and omnichannel store enablement.

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