Royal Mail today publishes Delivery Matters Returns Special, which contains new research focusing on the customer returns experience. The study found that nearly 1 in 6 (16%) now do virtually all their shopping online and that online shoppers in general are looking for convenience and certainty in the way returns are handled. 

This publication coincides with the launch of a new portal to help online retailers better manage returns while also improving the experience for their customers. The new Royal Mail Tracked Returns service improves the experience of returning online purchases for both retailers and customers. It allows customers to easily print off a returns label and monitor the progress of their item while giving retailers full visibility of what exactly is being returned, from which customer and for what reason.

Key findings

30 per cent of online shoppers surveyed returned women’s clothes. The main reasons for returning clothing were fit and size, while the most common reasons for returning other items were faults and damage.

73 per cent of online shoppers always expect free returns, and 60 per cent of online shoppers are unlikely to purchase from an etailer or marketplace seller again if they’ve been charged for a return. 

The research shows that convenience is still king with 72 per cent favouring the Post Office over other locations as a drop off point for returns. 78 per cent of online shoppers say their returns experience is likely to impact on their rating of a marketplace seller and 77 per cent say they are more likely to shop again with a retailer if they are offered returns with Royal Mail.

Nick Landon, Managing Director, Royal Mail Parcels, said: 'The internet is one big shop front, letting people anywhere in the country get their hands on anything they want. Convenient returns play a big part in making e-commerce attractive, and as online shoppers become more and more comfortable with online purchasing they are starting to dictate how they want the process to work, from free returns to end to end tracking. We are sharing this research, and launching our new easy to use returns portal, to help online retailers satisfy the evolving needs of today’s online shoppers.'

Download the full report at www.royalmail.com/deliverymatters