Retailers crack down on ‘serial returners’

Retailers are grappling with a trillion dollar market problem with returnsmore and more sellers are starting to penalize consumers for returning products.

To take Boozt, a Nordic digital department store operating throughout Europe. In a Tuesday (June 25) press release, the company said it had banned 60,000 customers who returned “excessive” items. The company said it intends to crack down on “serial returnees.”

“Currently approximately 60,000 customers out of a total of 3.5 million active customers are blocked” – Boozt CFO Sandra Gad – he said in a statement. “This behavior has not stopped, but we have learned to identify these types of customers.”

Fall online fashion store Asos announced his own plans to address these so-called serial returners, with CEO Jose Antonio Ramos Calamonte arguing for a distinction between “good”. phrases and bad profits.” Earlier this year, Cutting announced that the company has introduced lifetime bans for excessive refunds.

These moves are driven by retailers’ desire to balance consumer demand for free and easy returns with the costs of processing those returns.

“There is no such thing as free return” David Sobiethen vice president (now general manager) PayPal‘S Happy returns he told PYMNTS in an interview last year. “It’s just a matter of who is subsidizing the deal. Free return for buyer means seller pays. We see retailers saying, “I will choose the free or subsidized option that is cheapest for me.”

Still, consumers are demanding returns, and retailers that offer online returns tend to do better than those that don’t. In particular, sellers expecting an increase in revenue are 31% more likely to offer online returns than those who expect no change in revenue, according to PYMNTS Intelligence research.Global Digital Shopping Index 2024: Small and Medium Business Edition,” commissioned Visa acceptance solutions.

Last year’s one at that American edition from the same report, which was based on a survey of over 2,800 consumers in the United States, found that 44% of participants consider returns to be very important to their digital shopping journeys. The same study found an 11% awareness gap about free online returns, such that some retailers already offer this feature but consumers are unaware of it.

Many merchants, ranging from Amazon Down H&Mstarted charging fees for returns of at least some purchases.

“If you want to charge, you better be damn sure you’re delivering something special returns experience and unique shopping experiences” Loop CEO Jonathan Poma he told PYMNTS in August.

Additionally, retailers continue to raise the threshold free delivery. Some people adopt non-refundable rules to meet the challenge.

As companies like Boozt and Asos take a strong stance against “serial returnees” by implementing bans, the industry is grappling with the problem finding the balance between cost effectiveness and customer satisfaction. The message is clear: while free and easy returns remain a key factor in the success of online shopping, they are not without costs. Retailers are increasingly looking for ways to reduce these expenses. However, demand for seamless returns persists, and sellers must adapt to meet both their financial goals and the high expectations of their customers.

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