Several retailers have opted to differentiate their return policies although last week online retailer Singer22 implemented a radical new returns policy that gives customers an additional 10% of store credit when they return unwanted items.
They view this as being a token of appreciation for repeat business and that the system cannot be abused due to returns monitoring.
Yet even the CEO Jon Singer admitted that instances of wear-and-return fraud would simply be ‘unfortunate’. With this behaviour costing around $18 billion in the U.S they may need to think harder about how to combat this.
Although this type of return policy may be the first of it’s kind, retailers have been experimenting with these for years. For instance footwear retailer Schuh offer a 365 day return policy which some believe encourages customers to abuse the policy.
Boden also offer a no quibble return policy allowing customers to return items within 3 months.
Although these strategies are aimed to increase customer satisfaction do retailers walk a thin line between keeping their customers happy and giving them too much freedom to abuse the system?
