Wardrobing’ could land you in legal hot water with retailers, expert warns.
Following the recent news that ASOS will start charging customers for returns as part of its updated fair use policy, research by fulfilmentcrowd – a global fulfilment provider, driven by technology, for high growth omni-channel brands – investigated the evolving expectations of shoppers regarding the returns process in eCommerce.
What consumers want in the returns process:
Free returns; Ease of return; Immediate refunds; Clear return policies; Environmental concerns
What consumers dislike in the returns process:
Complexity and inconvenience; Costs associated with returns; Slow refund; Rigid return windows
Chelsea Banister, head of customer operations at fulfilmentcrowd on ASOS’ decision, said: “ASOS changing their returns policy highlights the shift in e-commerce behaviour in recent years. As the market is consumed with fast fashion and influencer-led promotion, behaviour such as doing huge online shopping hauls has seen a drastic increase in volumes and subsequent returns. These returns carry a cost for return to centre, quality check and return to stock for resale (if returned in adequate condition), all of which needs to be accounted for. Add to this a variation in sizing across brands and the volume of returns is higher than ever. As an industry we are all under pressure to increase sustainability and reduce carbon footprint. I think the change in returns policy will support the reduction in mass purchasing and reduce the number of returns as a whole. ASOS are taking sensible steps to remain a profitable business. At fulfilmentcrowd we too have seen an increase in returns which has led to a demand for additional resource both within the centres and from a customer support perspective,”
Austin Waddecar, CPO (Chief Product Officer) at fulfilmentcrowd, commented: “Many retailers are cracking down on mass customer returns due to operational costs, inventory management, environmental impact, and fraud prevention. Common reasons that a retailer might deny a customer’s return include non-compliance with return policies (such as being unused with tags and in original packaging) and being past the return window. However, retailers might also deny returns for more unexpected reasons, such as high return frequency, mismatch with original condition, return of free gifts or promotional items, or suspicious return patterns,”
Wider industry analysis revealed that many retailers are cracking down on mass customer returns, due to abuse of returns policies. Lee Thompson, CEO at fulfilmentcrowd, added: “The number of items returned by consumers is increasing at the same time as customers’ expectation levels and desire to reduce carbon footprints grow. One reason for greater levels of returned parcels is ‘bad’ deliveries: those that go missing, arrive too late, or even arrive damaged. Resolving bad deliveries usually entails frustrating, lengthy back-and forth communication cycles, and 85% of online shoppers say that a poor delivery experience would prevent them from ordering again.”
Insights from The fulfilmentcrowd Platform have revealed key trends in customer returns and delivery disputes. Analysing data from April 1st to August 29th, 2024, the most common issue was related to ‘Where is My Order’ (WISMO) inquiries, accounting for 76% of cases. This was followed by returns due to items no longer being required (22%) and damaged items or parcels (2%). Focusing on industry splits, household goods had the highest quantity of disputes in this time period. Household goods were also the most likely to be ‘no longer required’, whereas health and beauty goods were most likely to have been damaged, and fashion goods were most likely to be missing. Looking at monthly splits in the time period analysed, July saw the highest number of reported disputes overall.
Thompson continued to comment on how the rise of BNPL and showing off large ‘hauls’ on social media has triggered this trend, and how the subsequent increase in returns is presenting new challenges for eCommerce businesses: “One of the unintended consequences of the BNPL trend is what some retailers have dubbed the ‘Try Now, Pay Never’ phenomenon. Shoppers, particularly in the fast-fashion and apparel sectors, are increasingly using BNPL services as a way to ‘try before they buy’. They order multiple items, with the intention of keeping only one or two, and return the rest before the payment is due. Some shoppers also abuse return policies by “wardrobing” (wearing items before returning them) or ‘bracketing’ (purchasing multiple items in different sizes, colours, or styles and then returning the ones they don’t want) – this behaviour has led to a significant increase in return rates, adding strain to logistics systems and impacting profitability.”
