Managing Returns in Fashion Omni-Channel Retail

#fashion #retail #reverselogistics #returnsmanagement #online #ecommerce #logistics

Synopsis:
Getting to grips with Returns Management and Reverse Logistics demands more from a company than just tinkering with the number of days in the return window or if returns are free or not. It permeates the organisation to an extent that it is nor here or there. However, the majority of companies have delegated accountability for returns to their warehouse or just above that. Meanwhile, leading companies have just about set up project groups to come to terms with returns. Visionary retailers have already started implementing exploratory solutions to deal with a side of retail which is often neglected.

Zalando and John Lewis are two examples of companies with a visionary strategic view on how they want the customer to interact with them. Others think customers are there to be sold to, coached into signing up to loyalty program's, offered incentives to buy and reducing their chances of returning products.

The report looks at fashion e-commerce as a part of global retail and to what extent returns are an issue, how companies with different business models (multi-channel, pureplay, subscription, rental, etc) are dealing with returns, and what the main strategies are. Styleintelligence have also collated information for the main markets, differences and similarities.

For example, some companies are offering cash incentives to customers if they do not return garments, others ask customers to sign up to loyalty schemes to get free returns, others have a very short (less than a week) returns window, whereas others are pushing a richer set of product information and social interaction as a way to minimize returns.

Download a sample here