The Retailer Spring Edition 2023

SPRING 2023

33

Data analytics can help retailers to make more informed decisions about returns policies and nudge customers towards more efficient routes.

20% Despite the explosion of alternatives on offer, customers still prefer to return items in-store, and this remains one of the most cost-effective and value-adding options for retailers. And yet we see retailers over-indexing on returns options that customers don’t value and that cost them dearly in service fees. This is because they don’t understand what customers truly value, even though there are ways of seeing this in their own data, without having to gather this directly from consumers. Data analytics can help retailers to make more informed decisions about returns policies and nudge customers towards more efficient options. 16% Insight 4: Retailers are under-using their physical estate Insight 5: Returns are a reputational issue waiting to happen Returns are a blight on every retailer's sustainability strategy, whether it's the extra road miles, the products that can’t be resold or the extra cleaning and packaging required. The big danger for retailers is a lack of visibility of returns, which means they can’t answer the question: how many returns do you have, what is the environmental impact and what are you doing to address this? Questions like this become harder to ignore as retailers shout louder about their green credentials and businesses attract more scrutiny from consumers, investors and regulators. End-to-end ownership and visibility of returns is critical to gaining an accurate understanding of their environmental impact and coming up with a plan to address this, including actions required of internal teams and third parties. Read our whitepaper on rethinking returns, and get in touch to discuss your challenges and how we can help with your future plans: newtoneurope.com/returns-plc

Katie Quarmby katie.quarmby@newtoneurope.com 07884 222 778