I am not afraid to return a product if I don’t like it or it doesn’t work for me. So I am pretty close to an expert at spotting the strategies retailers use to slow down or discourage returns. I even noticed when the Gap brands switched return processing vendors- from Narvar to Optoro. And one thing that drives me nuts is retailers’ return codes. Are they really trying to use the data captured by this process? If so, they need to re-evalaute their return codes. And I’m here to help.
Retailers stick to a pretty consistent list of return reasons- issues of sizing, quality, delivery times, missing items. But they fail to give us consumers the option to tell them why we really returned an item.
I was in marketing in a previous life, so I have a pretty good idea how companies would like to use customer insights vs. the reality of the crappy data they get from them. And in the case of retailers’ return reasons, they are not making life easier for themselves. So in the spirit of helping out our retailing friends, I am here to give you my list of return reason codes.
Honestly, someone should hire me to consult for them! 🙂
Reasons related to price and value
- Not worth the price
- Added item to my order to get free shipping
- I’m figuring out what size I am and if I like an item from a retailer with a more lenient return policy so I can buy it cheaper elsewhere from a store (eBay, The RealReal) with a stricter return policy
Reasons related to sizing
- Makes me look fat (which doesn’t necessarily mean something is “too small” or “too large”- it could be either, frankly)
- Figuring out what size I am so i can reorder it when it goes on sale
- Your sizing is whacked. How am I a small in one thing and a large in another?
Reasons related to style and quality
- It’s really ugly, just awful
- Saw an influencer wearing it and wanted to give it a try
- Not sure what I would wear with this; keeping it would involve buying a new top, shoes, etc, and I am just not up for that
Reasons related to existential angst
- I already have 6 of a very similar style in my closet. I keep buying more of the same thing. It’s a real problem. I mean really, how many cream colored cashmere sweaters does a girl need??
- I bought this for the person I used to be, e.g. a 30 something who worked in a downtown office 5 days a week. That person is gone forever. Where did she go? I had a chance to do something different back then, but I took this path, and here I am…
- I bought this for a person I am not (I don’t live in a place where I need more than 1-2 turtlenecks max). Why do I keep buying turtlenecks? I know, they look so cute. But other than those 2 weeks in January, I am absolutely suffocating in turtlenecks the rest of the year. Maybe I should move somewhere else where I can wear turtlenecks more often?
- I was not sure if I am a person who wears sequins/fake fur/high heeled boots/belts. Sadly, now I know that I am not. But maybe I could be? Or to “mutton dressed as lamb”? Sigh…
