As of 2022, more than 50% of online stores offer free return shipping to their customers.
Why Your Return Policy Matters (By the #s)
Are you charging for return shipping and restocking fees? Research shows that charging customers for returns doesn’t just impact customers after the sale—it negatively impacts conversion rates before the sale.
- 80% of consumers want free returns shipping
- 67% of shoppers check the returns page before making a purchase
- 92% of consumers will buy again if returns are easy
The Unsustainable Cost of Returns
The average return costs retailers 66% of the original price for the item when factoring in labor, transportation, warehousing costs, and liquidation losses. For a $50 retail item, you can expect up to $33 in total cost to process that returned item.
Map Out Your Process
With an average of 1 in 5 orders being returned, you need a robust process map to minimize cost and maximize capital recovery at every step in the reverse logistics cycle. The closer to the end consumer you position your recovery, the better the outcome for your business.
Your process should include solutions for:
- Returns Recommerce – Sell your returns at the point of return initiation
- Warehousing – Space dedicated to returns processing & inspection
- Repackaging – Labor and materials to repackage your products to sell as new
- Repair/Refurbishment – Service to repair damaged and broken items
- Discount/Refurbished Channel – To sell items marketed as refurbished
- Wholesale Liquidation Channel – To sell open box items at a deep discount
- Donating – For items with no other sales channel
- Recycling – For ethically disposing of remaining items
- Waste Disposal – Removing remaining unsalvagable items.
Minimizing the impact returns have on your business means you can offer better prices and a more favorable return policy than your competitors.
Make Returns Your Superpower with
Hafback’s Returns Recommerce Solution
If you’re ready to make returns your competitive advantage, Hafback’s Returns Recommerce solution can help you reduce your returns costs by 70% or more.
Hafback takes consumer-initiated returns, instantly lists them for sale on our marketplace, and facilitates peer-to-peer shipping between the returner and marketplace buyer. This eliminates the need to send returns to your warehouse, cutting the cost and environmental impact this process creates.
When you sell your in-process returns on the Hafback marketplace, you can afford to offer your customers free returns.