ANN ARBOR — Online customers prize easy, multiple return options above all else, according to a new survey of 500 online shoppers.
The survey was conducted on behalf of Ann Arbor-based customer experience analyst CFI Group and the e-commerce services provider Radial, based in the Philadelphia suburb King of Prussia, Pa.
Officials of the two companies said there is much retailers can do to boost future revenue by more effectively managing online purchase returns and fraud detection processes.
Some of the findings for online retail customers include:
* 86 percent say that having multiple return options has at least some effect on their decision to make an online purchase
* 57 percent say that the option to return items to a physical store is very important
* 41 percent usually or always return online purchases to the store
* 23 percent always opt to return their online purchases by shipping rather than going directly to a store
* Customers who always opt to ship returns have a satisfaction score of 82 (on a 0-100 scale), compared to just 69 for all other customers
* 80 percent prefer to use a prepaid label when shipping returns, rather than handle the return process on the retailer’s website
* 80 percent expect the returns process to take five days or less
* 33 of those who have had an order mistakenly considered potential fraud say that they would not shop with that retailer again if that errant fraud alert caused a delay in the order delivery
As online sales continue to grow, so do the complexities of order fulfilment and fraud detection. Retailers should review in-house and third-party solutions for delivering on back-end processes that can support continued growth in online sales.
To read more about the Retail Report by Radial and CFI Group, visit cfigroup.com/resource-item/retail-report-november-2017.
CFI Group, founded in 1988, is founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index, developed by University of Michigan professor emeritus Claes Fornell.
More at www.cfigroup.com or www.radial.com.