The Return on Returns: Battling Buyer’s Remorse

To think that the human condition has stretched to be a burden on our planet is undoubtedly a tough pill to swallow, but now ours to bear more than ever. Lest we forget the centuries of (mostly naive) harm we've inflicted on earth, we're often reminded by the Just Stop Oils and the Extinction Rebellions to not only do our bit, but do it now. To do more.Over the last two decades, we've lent into instant gratification in nearly every sense. We've become total products of our environment, where waiting now seems not only unnecessary but heinous – the Bezos’ of the world ensuring we get that new, trivially-improved (if at all) robotic vacuum the next day and not a moment later.The Amazon Effect has infiltrated fashion retail too. Nearly every mainstream fast fashion retailer now offers a premier delivery subscription service, giving customers free and unlimited next or selected-day delivery on all of their orders on a year-by-year basis. No perceptible delivery fee. More frequent orders. More profit. Smart move.Until the returns start rolling in.Currently, one in three items bought online are returned, compared to a 9% return rate for items bought in-store. As the returns market grows this means costs per return for retailers increases too. Financially, they're a significant burden. The costs associated with processing returns, including restocking, inspecting, repackaging, and possibly discounting items, can be quite high – sometimes amounting to 15-30% of the original purchase price.Large swathes of returns – nearly 50% – are due to sizing issues or damaged goods (easily avoidable in 2024), while other reasons stem from psychological factors like unmet expectations leading to buyer’s remorse.Breaking Down Buyer’s RemorseCall it what you want – post-purchase dissonance, the consumer comedown, instant regret – buyer's remorse is no joke in any sector. Once exclusively associated with high-value items like property or flashy cars, the rapid rise of online shopping, exacerbated by an epidemic of ennui, has made buyer’s remorse a growing trend in modern consumer behaviour.Psychologically speaking, the feeling is often brought on by a sense of caution and doubt as to whether the right decision has been made. Discount site Slickdeals conducted a poll in which 74% of respondents experienced buyer’s remorse following an online purchase. Among luxury purchasers, the percentage only lowers to 59%. Of the former cohort, 39% felt the item was less valuable than expected, 34% found they didn’t use the item as much as initially expected and 32% felt they spent too much money in the first place.Commonly referred to as impulse buying, quick (maybe even rash) purchasing decisions have become the norm as the experience lacks any friction. The ease with which we can buy something and have it in our hands less than 24 hours later is not only causing regret, wastefulness and dissatisfaction, it also acutely dilutes a brand's paradigm of value.Of course, customer experience should be seamless – but it should also feel significant. Immediacy isn’t gratifying us anymore, especially when it comes to luxury.“Luxury is about slowing down the experience. Luxury should give us a reason to pause and reflect, to find room within ourselves and develop personal meaning between our possessions, the buying process and the brand.” – Anant Sharma, CEO, Matter Of Form, speaking at Walpole's British Luxury Summit 2024Our feelings post-purchase need to feel worthy of the investment made. We need healthy friction in the buying process – that is, some sense of calibrated effort on behalf of the buyer and brand designed to combat cognitive dissonance and anticipated regret, particularly in a market that is more discerning than ever.Cyclical & Sustainable: The Future of Fashion ReturnsIn the US alone, it’s estimated that 5 billion pounds of returned goods end up in landfill every year. Not only that, but hauling returned inventory back and forth emits over 15 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.It goes without saying, our planet can't take much more.Generally, mass consumerism gave all of us a wasteful mindset. We replaced instead of fixed. We threw away instead of re-purposing. We carelessly filled bins instead of effectively recycling. Now we’re all that little bit more conscious about our behaviours, the ‘only wear once’ trend that defined decades of couture excess is now firmly out of fashion.‘As spending comes under scrutiny by a more cautious post-pandemic consumer, product functionality and purpose will drive purchases. Value can now be measured in quality, convenience, and a cool currency that tops any luxury one, with spend-savviness now embedded in everyday wellbeing and sustainability.’To cater to this shift, brands are now challenging their once-stress-free returns process, adding a touch more friction to their CX. High street retailer Zara has become one of the latest brands to begin charging a fee for online returns, while returning in-store is still free of charge.Although some customers weren't eager to adjust to this new obstacle, the industry largely praised the fashion giant while others followed suit. With footfall flailing, it’s an effective tactic for driving customers back into stores alongside lightening the load on our planet. Resisting Returns: What Brands Need To Do To Combat Returns1. Incorporate Repair and Restoration ServicesWhere luxury has always excelled is in dealings of exclusivity and an irreplaceable quality. For many, timeless is taken literally so brands need to make the move from a product mindset to a service mindset.Creating and actively advertising repair and restoration services adds an element of care to your customers while also elongating their relationship with your brand.Loewe's Osaka ReCraft store specialises in repairs, recycling, and maintenance –on-site leather artisans provide services including restitching, edge painting, and handle replacements – as well as housing a retail section with "new" bags made from the surplus leather of previous collections.In Tokyo, Fender's flagship blends bespoke guitar builds with a basement care bar for repairs across every model. Meanwhile luxury Italian fashion brand Golden Goose’s Forward Store provides four essential services: Remake (embellishing both new and used products), Repair, Resell (including sanitation) and Recycle (for products of any brand).The house's longstanding dedication to circularity is reflected in its sustainability philosophy of "trying, evolving, and learning." The store's services are provided by experienced artisans within an industrialised antique atmosphere. Importantly, the idea behind an adjacent made-to-measure business is that customised products are less likely to be thrown away.While items needing constant repairs is another story – one removed from conversations on luxury – but if every so often a clasp breaks or a button could do with a restitch, an easy, enjoyable repair service will only serve to highlight your brand’s brilliance, reduce waste and keep returns low.2. Infuse MeaningThe need for a narrative is essential at every stage of the buyer journey, from awareness triggers to relationship management and renewal.Consumers want to know they’re making good decisions – the ‘right’ decisions – and we invent narratives for ourselves to rationalise those decisions.So when a brand can offer us reassurance through authentic storytelling and take the onus off us to justify and explain our purchases, we’re far less likely to return items or experience buyer’s remorse.Making returns meaningful, Little Stories of You is a slow, sustainable children’s clothing brand setup to offer returns and replacements as kids continue to grow. Made from pure lines, organic cottons and exclusively designed prints, LSOY creates timeless pieces with a hint of nostalgia – each garment carefully designed to have a long life span and become a sentimental item within families. They tell their customers to "Love it. Pass it down.", encouraging families to treat pieces as precious, something to be shared.To bring the concept to life, the brand comms are akin to whimsical storytelling, putting strong sentiments to paper through labels and handwritten notes. With a colour palette inspired by paper stock and pressed stamps, Little Stories of You's identity leans into an unconventional, patchwork-esque typography style, capturing sentiments on childhood and growing up to pull on tohse heartstrings.3. Ensure AuthenticityParting with our hard-earned cash is both becoming more and more difficult and simultaneously easier than ever.Contactless card transactions and payment instalment schemes mean the reality of transferring money is increasingly less visible and therefore so much easier to do and, usually, is where buyer’s remorse sets in as the gratification isn’t as overwhelming as anticipated. The ways this is be combated in the web3 age is through authentication and verification softwares, to transform people's perception of products into assets – possessions to be bought, traded and re-sold.Digital IDs specifically – that is, cryptographic keys or certificates that confirm the authenticity of an entity – play a pivotal role in advancing the circular economy within the luxury fashion industry and will become especially prevalent in the EU by 2030.Firstly, they enable unprecedented transparency and traceability, allowing consumers to make informed choices about the products they purchase. In an era where sustainability and authenticity are paramount, digital IDs can provide a detailed history of a luxury item, from its origin to its previous owners.Digital IDs also empower luxury brands to take control of their products' afterlife by implementing buy-back programs, refurbishing, and recycling initiatives. These digital markers ensure that products can be easily identified and reintroduced into the market, preserving their value and contributing to a more sustainable, circular fashion economy.Secondly, digital IDs foster a sense of exclusivity and personalization that resonates with luxury fashion consumers. These IDs can be linked to unique product stories, craftsmanship details, and even personal messages from designers, enhancing the emotional connection between consumers and their luxury purchases. This connection strengthens brand loyalty and encourages customers to retain and cherish their luxury items, reducing the urge to discard them prematurely.Giving a customer that extra sense of value does wonders in dissipating regret before it sets in, especially in luxury brand.4. Embrace New TechAs well as digital IDs, brands who incorporate AI technology and augmented reality for virtual fittings and experimentation – even offering potential buyers the ability to see a garment’s versatility within their personal wardrobe – could drastically reduce the need for returns.WANNA, an augmented reality platform funded by Farfetch, has released a new tool to assist shoppers in virtuallytrying on jewellery as accurately as possible. Known as Enhanced Gems, this mobile virtual try-on (VTO) 3D technology lets users see exactly how coloured and diamond-cut stones would seem in real life. Other houses leveraging WANNA, seeing an increase in user engagement and a decrease in returns, include Valentino, Dolce&Gabbana, Diesel and Balenciaga, among others.It's 'Try Before You Buy' but better. According to a survey from Klarna, more online shoppers chose 'Try Before You Buy' as their preferred way to pay compared to other traditional methods like credit or debit cards. Though not an infallible model, advanced, realistic VTOs offer this concept without any initial shipping and, in terms of customer relationships, provides a much more innovative interaction early on in the experience. Differentiating the savvier labels from tech slackers.5. Highlight Stores as Physical TouchpointsPushes to reimagine in-store spaces as exhibitions, galleries and more are the new frontier in retail’s reinvention. Using stores as places to get physical with products and services adds a new level to your customer experience. Attachment and desire become more real in real life settings.Dyson’s Oxford Street Demo Store offers a whole lot more than you can get online. From exclusive products and services to in-person expertise and one-to-one care and attention, the customer-oriented experience is sure to contribute to, if not entirely satisfy, our human need for indulgence.Even if, and it’s likely, customers leave the store aiming to purchase online, the conversion happened there. Your store is where customers are convinced. Where Luxury Leads, The Rest FollowSustainability isn’t a competition by any means, it's a necessary shift that luxury has the ability to lead. Fast fashion will never be sustainable. Whereas slow, thoughtful processes will always be the preserve of luxury – a kind of protection that should be highlighted to an increasingly mindful cohort of buyers.To brands: be unafraid of experiences that prioritise emotional engagement over ease of conversion. Embrace healthy friction. Act boldly. Design what's next.Matter Of Form is a design consultancy specialising in brand strategy, CX and digital innovation for timeless brands. Get in touch via hello@matterofform.com. Retail returns are a billion-dollar issue, and climbing. Though conversations around curbing them may be stalling in the big boardrooms of the world, handfuls of brands are already making moves towards better models, from battling buyer’s remorse to nix returns altogether, to elongating a product’s lifespan with specialist services. Unpicking the jargon, this is one for the businesses who want to do better, but need a bit of a boost.

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The Return on Returns: Battling Buyer’s Remorse