7 ways to go toe-to-toe with Amazon’s reverse logistics
In the past, retailers sold on Amazon to amplify their online presence. Today, many retailers are choosing not to pay Amazon for a cut of their sales, or have their products compete against lookalikes in the Amazon marketplace. For example, Nike shocked the retail world last November when it announced it was severing its relationship with Amazon. Birkenstock, Louis Vuitton, and North Face have all also left Amazon to sell independently online, too.
Let’s take a look at what shoppers love about the Amazon experience. You can then use these principles to create strategic partnerships that help you delight customers, cut costs, and retain more revenue.
What does Amazon do well?
As retailers make a significant direct-to-consumer push, it’s important to still consider what Amazon does well from a logistics perspective, as these are things customers have grown to expect. The eCommerce giant:
Offers free (and exceptionally quick) shipping
Offers choices for free, in-person returns at locations like UPS, Kohl’s, and Whole Foods
What else do shoppers crave from their post-purchase experience?
Here are just a few things shoppers say they want when it comes to returns:
Fit, ease, and convenience
Buying from retailers that align with their values
Avoiding the hassle of printing and packaging
Getting refunds quickly
Guidelines for in-person returns that have been adjusted for COVID-19
Retailers can do all of the above by forging strategic partnerships with experts throughout every stage of the post-purchase journey to design customer experiences that rival Amazon—while cutting costs and retaining more revenue in the process. For more information about this, you can watch our webinar, How to go toe-to-toe with Amazon.
As retailers make a direct-to-consumer push, there’s value in considering what Amazon does well from a logistics perspective, and designing a strategy to design a similar customer experience with partners.
When choosing a strategic partnership to help you achieve your goals, it’s important to consider those that offer a comprehensive solution, so you don’t need to piecemeal your own solution together yourself.
How can retailers compete with Amazon’s reverse logistics?
At Happy Returns, we offer retailers the industry’s only end-to-end returns solution to initiate, accept, and process exchanges and returns that includes:
Best-in-class software with a one-click exchange feature that turns potential refunds back into revenue;
Multiple return options, including in-person at our nationwide network of Return Bar locations, which are currently re-opening.
A fantastic in-person experience that has a 94 Net Promoter Score;
Aggregated shipping that significantly reduces shipping costs;
Regional Return Hubs that inspect, process, and ship exchanges and returns in bulk to your preferred location;
Reusable, cardboard-free packaging that reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 120 lbs for every 1 million returns;
A real-time dashboard providing valuable insights to your merchandise, shopper return reasons, and refund types.
With the knowledge of what Amazon does well, what customers expect, and how strategic partnerships can help you succeed, the final key in staying competitive is to continue to drive forward and look ahead.
What does the future of returns look like?
Here’s a look into the future, as it relates to returns:
Retailers will create KPIs for exchange rates for the first time and, more importantly, they will hold the returns platform accountable for them.
In-person returns will become more popular than returns by mail. We already have some retail customers that achieve over 50% penetration with our existing Return Bar footprint, so that's only going to get better.
An increase in the popularity and availability of in-person returns will allow retailers to start charging more for mail returns, which is the more expensive method.
A majority of returns will be in large, aggregated shipments, instead of wasteful and expensive individual parcels.
Reusable packaging will both reduce retailer costs and help the environment.
Positive returns experiences will increase customer lifetime value, as retailers discover that customers who return and exchange the most also shop the most. On the flip side, negative returns experiences will drive customers away in droves.
Returns will become an opportunity to drive new orders more quickly, rather than waiting to fulfill everything back from a third-party logistics partner.
Tune in to my on-demand webinar for even more insight into building an efficient reverse logistics system through strategic partnerships.
Andrew Pease
Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Pease is the Chief Financial Officer of Happy Returns. Previously, Andrew served as the Chief Financial Officer at Brighter (acquired by CIGNA) and Telescope. Before that, he was the Vice President of Finance and Planning at Disney Interactive.
