fb

#problemswithreturns

#problemswithreturns

It’s common knowledge that high street shops are struggling. A number of household names have gone (or are going!) out of business and one of the reasons for this is the rise of online shopping.

But the online stores haven’t got it easy and online clothing stores in particular are facing an emerging threat driven by social media.

A lot of people are reluctant to buy clothes online in case they don’t fit properly. To get around this a number of online stores offer free returns.

This has led an increasing number of people to take advantage of the free returns policy.

By take advantage I mean to order clothes that they have NO intention of keeping. Instead, they want to order the clothes so that they can have their photo taken wearing them and then post those photos on social media sites before returning them free of charge.

Whilst this enables individuals to look super trendy in front of their friends on sites such as Instagram and Facebook, it is proving to be a problem for retailers.

The giant credit / debit card provider Barclaycard, which sees nearly half of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions, recently undertook some research which showed the scale of the problem.

The research showed that 9% of online shoppers in the UK had bought clothes online with the aim of wearing them for a photo to post on social media and then returning them. The age group who were the largest culprits were 35 – 44 year olds where the percentage rose to a staggering 17%.

Perhaps surprisingly, men were more likely than women to “snap and send back” (12% of male shoppers compared to 7% of female shoppers).

It’s a major issue for online retailers.

George Allardice, Head of Strategy at Barclaycard Payment Solutions said “It’s interesting to see the social media trend further fuelling the returns culture. We know from our research that returns are having a big impact on retailers, with a huge figure of seven billion pounds a year in sales that they potentially can’t recognise”.

In summary, “snap and send back” equals #bigproblemswithreturns

Share this entry

Related articles

View All Articles

Recent articles

View All Articles
Uber’s growing but why did its share price fall?
Feb 05, 2025
Title
Uber’s growing but why did its share price fall?
Excerpt

Uber Technologies Inc. has firmly established itself as a global leader in mobility services. Despite facing regulatory challenges […]

Stadiums, sponsorships and success: the evolution of football finances
Jan 24, 2025
Title
Stadiums, sponsorships and success: the evolution of football finances
Excerpt

The Deloitte Football Money League (DFML) is an annual publication that tracks and profiles the highest revenue-generating football […]

Waxing lyrical: Barbour’s £30M payday
Jan 22, 2025
Title
Waxing lyrical: Barbour’s £30M payday
Excerpt

With a fanbase that includes members of the Royal Family and leading music stars, Barbour coats have become […]

Harry Potter star’s gin goes global
Jan 18, 2025
Title
Harry Potter star’s gin goes global
Excerpt

When most people think of Emma Watson, they probably think of her as Hermione Granger in the Harry […]

How’s your lipstick?
Jan 15, 2025
Title
How’s your lipstick?
Excerpt

In the world of business, understanding consumer behavior is key. The “lipstick effect” looks at the interplay between […]

Retire or Re-Tie? : marriage for older people
Jan 08, 2025
Title
Retire or Re-Tie? : marriage for older people
Excerpt

Marriage trends have been shifting for decades. Whilst overall marriage rates have dipped by more than 20 percent […]

How to impress over a business lunch…
Jan 06, 2025
Title
How to impress over a business lunch…
Excerpt

Picture the scene. You’ve got an important business lunch coming up. You want to make a good impression […]

Comparing the Top 5 ACCA Platinum Online Course Providers
Jan 04, 2025
Title
Comparing the Top 5 ACCA Platinum Online Course Providers
Excerpt

If you’re looking to excel in your ACCA studies, choosing an ACCA Platinum Approved Learning Partner is a […]