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Inside Outdoor | Spring 2016 53
this issue with a completely different
philosophy, or so it would seem. Larger
stores, in general, adopt the approach
that “If the customer isn’t happy, they
probably aren’t coming back.” They also
seem to allow the customer a longer
period of time in which to make a deci-
sion on the merchandise. Thirty days
appears to be the norm.
Other discoveries from my unsci-
entific poll were that final sale items
were not returnable. That seems
reas nable to me, unless the product
is defective, in which case it should
become a vendor issue. Most retail-
ers responded that any returns had
to have the sales receipt and could
not show any signs of wear. Again,
larger volume retailers are a bit more
lenient here. One store, in particular,
actually advertises that customers can
exchange footwear they have worn if
the pair isn’t working for them within
30 days. A liberal policy such as that
takes away any fear a customer may
have regarding the purchase.
Might a case be made that larger
volume stores became that way over
time because, among other things, they
were willing to do what the custom r
wanted them to do? Next time you are
confronted with a return that seems
questionable, try asking the customer
what they would like you to do to make
them happy. If a store credit is going
to annoy a customer to the point of
creating hard feelings, is it really worth
it? To the stores that feel they must
keep the money “in the store,” it might
be time to rethink this approach. I con-
tend you keep more money in the store
in the long run by making the customer
happy. That may mean giving more
cash refunds.
Looking at returns from another
perspective, we might see that the
Return Rate by Category
Retail Category Blended Return Rate
Apparel 10.5%
Auto parts 21%
Beauty 5.21%
Children’s apparel 9.88%
Department stores 14.05%
Footwear 9.56%
Hard goods 12.33%
Home improvement 11.35%
Housewares 12.29%
Sporting goods 9.25%
Women’s apparel 11.13%
Survey median 8%
Source: National Retail Federation
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