Time is money, get the return picked up
As retailers begin 2024 with an onslaught of holiday returns, we’re looking at the role of convenience in online returns pickup and drop-off.
Over the last several months, we’ve examined returns drop-off behaviors from all angles: when consumers are most likely to go, where they prefer to go, and how far they’ll travel. All signs point to one truth: online shoppers want to spend as little time as possible dealing with online returns. (It’s no wonder the packages sit in their trunks for almost a week before finally getting dropped off.)
So, what about the option to avoid dropping off altogether? You know...that service where the carrier comes to you?
While home pickup yet to become common in the world of ecommerce reverse logistics—according to our BOXscore secret shopping data, only 19% of online retailers offer it—this month’s BOXpoll surveys reveal a strong consumer appetite for the service.
Key takeaways:
- For most consumers, willingness to pay for home pickup depends on how much time they'll save.
- Three-quarters of consumers (74%) would pay $5 for pickup, depending on how far the drop-off location is from them.
- Less than a quarter of all consumers (22%)—and even fewer GenZers (15%) and Millennials (11%)—say they would never pay for home pickup if free drop-off were available.
Time is money, and depending on how much time they’ll save, most consumers agree that ferrying an unwanted item to a drop-off point is a task worth outsourcing.
BOXpollTM by Pitney Bowes, a weekly survey on current events, culture, and ecommerce logistics. Conducted by Pitney Bowes with Morning Consult // 2200 US consumers surveyed December 2023. © Copyright Pitney Bowes Inc.