Thinking returns
Inspiration, knowledge, news and dialogue about returns, true profitability*, accessibility and sustainability. Feel free to continue the conversation about topics and post on LinkedIn.
*True profitability within e-commerce is all about identifying and managing the financial consequences of new purchases and delivery patterns. Read more about it here
Consumer returns are a double-edged sword!
The statutory right for us customers to return items generates, as we all know, high costs, which often come into focus, especially in the media but also in some businesses. In an American study, by analyzing transaction data, it was found that there is a small group...
How improving returns management can lead to a 25% bump in reconversion
How improving returns management can lead to a 25% bump in reconversion.
How to transform 50% of your returns into business opportunities!
It's true! It's time to flip the script and start viewing returns as a part of your business and not just a cost. So, which returns make up these 50% and how big of an impact can they have on your business? The graph below represents a pretty average perspective on...
Holiday Season 2020 – after the most important ever Q4 comes the most challenging Q1
Easycom and partners IBM and Publicis Sapient recently held a panel discussion looking at 'Ecommerce in the Holiday Season 2020 - after the most important ever Q4 comes the most challenging Q1 for returns, sustainability and margins’ Easycom CEO Peter Hietala...
Customers – the easycom segmentation and Life Time Profitability
Understanding customers real value, or LTP (Life Time Profitability), to your business is a crucial measure which should underpin much of the interaction with your customer base. Being able to differentiate which particular customer contributes to your profits...
returns – the first thing your eCommerce business should consider
eCommerce fashion return rates are ridiculously high. Depending on where you are in the world and how you do your analysis (exchanges/claims/refunds …) the return rate is likely to be 25%-60% and in some edge cases may even be 70%. So it’s an accepted fact that...
Coronavirus – a reset opportunity for fashion retailers
The Coronavirus crisis will lead to significant changes in what customers accept as 'standard' Quarantining of goods may be added to the returns process Reseting the returns process to become fee based is the opportunity retailers may embrace A famous leader...
Coronavirus impact Q&A with Sean Sherwin-Smith
We recently had a Q&A session with supply chain expert Sean Sherwin-Smith about the impact of the Coronavirus on retail. Broadly speaking, how do you see Covid affecting the world of commerce and ecommerce? What has been brought into sharp focus for business...
The new normal and stock levels
"Online volumes for ecommerce and omni-channel retailers will almost definitely increase in all segments" Many will be the impact of Covid-19 on retail and in its aftermath we can speculate as to what will the new normal be for retailers and consumers? Already we are...
Sustainability in ecommerce – you need to think outside the box
The big trick you are missing in your sustainability policy What are you doing to improve the sustainability of your ecommerce operation? Eco friendly last mile delivery? Limiting packaging and plastics? Encouraging customers to use click and collect? Reducing...
The impact of returns – addressing the X and Y time
Earlier this summer, in a workshop with a global sports brand, we came across the terms X and Y time with respect to their returns process. The brand’s team had defined the X time as: the time between a customer receiving their ordered online goods to dropping off the...
Easycom customer segmentation
Many MBA students will have come across the Boston Consulting Group Growth-Share Matrix and will have marvelled at the elegance and insight the model brings to planning and business strategy. It’s a simple approach and may seem somewhat dated in these days of big...
True profitability
The history
True profitability within e-commerce is all about identifying and managing the financial consequences of new purchases and delivery patterns. When an increasingly large part of business flows is made up of returns, the profit margin is directly impacted — which can be difficult to detect and manage in time. Individual purchase and returns patterns make certain customers more profitable while others constantly drive negative impacts. As a result, certain products also become unprofitable on some markets through a combination of:
• Return rate
• Operational and logistical costs
• Return policy on the local market
True profitability is an established concept within management consulting, where all costs within, for example, the processing industry are manually traced back to individual products and services that are being sold. We are now adopting this term within e-commerce and automating it through digitalisation. Generally speaking, discussing return rates on a macro level will lead to unwanted consequences as a result of not being detailed enough.
Returns are both good and bad
Returns are both good and bad, customers and products and both unprofitable and profitable. Every individual customer and product should be handled separately in order to maximise profitability and the customer experience while also minimising negative environmental impact. A continuous and automated insight, on the most detailed level, allows for a lucrative tactic and a type of operational sales management that has never before been possible.