White Papers

A Return On Returns For Wireless Providers

The new wireless landscape can be summed up in three letters: LNP. With the advent of the Local Number Portability law (LNP) in November of 2003, the wireless competitive landscape is heating up more than ever before. The average cost to acquire a new customer is on the rise ($359 as of 6/2004, according to the Yankee Group) and competitors continue to offer attractive incentives to woo customers away from their current provider. Further, customers want to keep up with the latest cellular phone technology and services and are seeking the best deals, proving they will switch carriers to get it if they have to. Read more ...

Appleseed's Success Story

Wishing to meet demands from customers for a more convenient and easy-to-use returns system, Appleseed’s began the SmartLabel implementation in February 2004. Returning merchandise through the use of Newgistics’ SmartLabel is nearly effortless, which was especially important for Appleseed’s considering their customer base. Appleseed’s provided their customers with the ability to return merchandise from their own homes by simply detaching the preaddressed bar coded SmartLabel from their order summary, affixing it to their package and dropping it off anywhere in the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) mail stream, including their front door. SmartLabel’s dynamic barcode links the package to the customer’s invoice and provides package visibility to Appleseed’s early in the returns process. This enables customer service representatives to proactively address customers’ exchange or credit needs, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and loyalty and improved employee morale. Read more ...

Benchmark Brands Steps Up Their Returns

Benchmark Brands is a $75 million a year direct- to-consumer company that has built its business on customer service and superior merchandise. It is imperative that an easy to use returns process is in place for both its online and catalog shoppers. Unfortunately, without an intelligent returns management solution the returns process was becoming a more complex ingredient in the supply chain, and worked against Benchmark Brands in its efforts to retain customer loyalty. Prior to implementing Newgistics Intelligent Returns Management solution, Benchmark Brands found that they were experiencing inefficiencies due to the lack of insight into reverse logistics operations. Read more ...

Happy Holiday Returns: A Study About Online & Catalog Shopping and Merchandise Returns

For the third year in a row, a survey commissioned by Newgistics, Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive®, shows that an overwhelming number of U.S. adults who have shopped online or through catalogs (92 percent) are somewhat or very likely to shop with an online or catalog retailer if the return process is convenient; conversely, 82 percent are not very or not at all likely to shop again with a direct retailer if the return process is inconvenient. Equally important this holiday season, 77 percent of U.S. adults report that return policies and processes are important or very important when deciding to purchase a gift for someone else. Read more ...

If The Shoe Doesn't Fit... (Road Runner Sports)

... Road Runner was struggling to handle shoes and apparel returned by customers who had ordered the wrong size online or from a catalog. Customers would put the shoes in a box and send them back and would contact Road Runner’s call center to find out when to expect a refund or replacement. The problem: Customer service representatives didn’t know, even after the customer told them when and how the product was returned. “We couldn’t tell where the product was,” said Jennifer Melzer, customer care manager. Even when customers used express and delivery services such as UPS and FedEx, the tracking information was “not always reliable or complete”, she said. Read more ...

Overstock.com Success Story

Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale over the Internet. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory liquidation distribution channel. Understanding that a positive returns experience increases customer satisfaction and loyalty, Overstock.com selected Newgistics SmartLabel and ReturnCart to make the returns process as easy and convenient as the point-and-click shopping experience, resulting in more than a 50% reduction in return-related customer service calls. Read more ...

Return convenience and merchandise return rates: A closer look.

Direct retailers are rapidly adopting Newgistics’ Intelligent Returns Management and SmartLabel solutions. As a result, these retailers are developing sustainable competitive and financial advantages including increases in top-line revenue, customer retention and operational efficiencies. In short, Newgistics’ client retailers have experienced improved profitability and SmartLabel has emerged as the industry’s standard for returns management. Read more ...

Returns Management in the Medical Supply and Devices Marketplace

Medical suppliers face a number of challenges when managing returns. A general lack of control over the return process results in higher costs, poor customer service and inefficient processes. This lack of control impacts both suppliers and end-users. Medical suppliers have little access to return information, including return reason and item data, resulting in slower government reporting processes and end-user return credits. End-users, including consumers, often face the complexity, inconvenience and red-tape of returning items and receiving credit. Read more ...

Returns Management in the Service Parts Marketplace

Aftermarket services are increasingly becoming a business priority for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and service providers. These services represent both an opportunity and a challenge. If managed well, selling services packages and service parts can contribute as much or more profit than the original purchase, and act as a competitive differentiator. However, poorly-managed post-sale services can negatively impact customer satisfaction, damage service levels and generate higher operating costs. Read more ...

Returns Marketing White Paper

Consider this startling fact: retailers sold approximately $96 billion in merchandise online during 2003, but more than $20 billion of that merchandise was returned. In such a competitive marketplace, that returns number -- representing 21% of all sales -- takes on enormous significance, considering that 85% of customers say they will stop buying from a retailer if the returns process is a hassle. Can retailers afford to lose one out of every five customers because of a bad returns experience? Certainly not. Read more ...

Smart Returns - “You never get a second chance to make a first impression."

One thing more precious than a sale itself is a repeat customer. Whether online, catalog or offline, return policies play a major role in the consumer’s mind when purchasing an item. This element of the decision becomes even more important when the consumer is making the purchase online or over the phone, and has not had a chance to touch and feel the item in person. Though this may not seem like a revelation to most, we now have solid and undeniable proof that it is not only the policies that matter, but also the ease and convenience of the return process that matters most to the consumer. With the recent results of the Harris Interactive “Study About Returns,” Online stores and Catalogs must address the real issues of consumers to attain the repeat customer. Read more ...

The Value of Returns Visibility

In today’s competitive retail environment, nothing is business as usual. As retailers are searching for ways to grow their customer file, create new revenue streams and reduce costs, market leaders cannot afford any missteps due to “blind spots” in the supply chain. There is simply too much at stake. Read more ...