“免费退货”不免费.docVIP

“免费退货”不免费 　　Despite reports of trashed stores and disorderly crowds， Black Friday shopping excursions in 2016 are actually dwindling.1 Preliminary data from Thanksgiving weekend indicates that both net sales and shopper visits to brickand-mortar stores2 fell in 2016 and 2015， and that in-store sales fell by about $1 billion. As those with Black Friday fatigue move to shopping online from the comfort of their homes， they’re attracted not just by deals and promises of free shipping， but also by the increasingly common safety net3 of free returns. 　　But neither of these services is really free. Much has been written about how much “free” shipping actually costs retailers， and as the ability to return goods at no cost becomes an increasingly normal part of online shopping―particularly during the holidays―that service too is becoming more burdensome for merchants. 　　A survey by the National Retail Federation found that the return rate for all merchandise purchased around the holidays is two percent higher than the average rate during the rest of the year. That’s especially burdensome for online retailers whose holiday sales figures are climbing. 　　For online shopping， the return rate is estimated to be much higher in general， but particularly around the holidays. “The annual retail return rate is around 8 percent， but can reach up to 30 percent for e-commerce sales， especially in categories like apparel4，” Tobin Moore， the CEO of Optoro， a company that specializes in returns， said in an email. 　　Optoro handles returns for companies in the interest of reducing waste. The process of collecting， assessing， and reshelving returned goods is often so costly for companies that items are instead thrown out or sold to stores that liquidate5 the products. Optoro collects these returned products， and then its employees repackage and repair the products to either be sent back to retailers， or―for products the company no longer wants―to be resold to wholesalers6 or discount webs