Recent industry trends have many retailers on high alert, and looking towards new solutions for business. That’s why it’s more critical than ever for retailers to take control of returns. Fortunately, that leads to combating inflation, promoting sustainability, and increasing customer loyalty along the way.

Retail Anxiety is Real

Anxiety is developing in the world of retail, for a few different reasons, and is being felt across the board. The squeeze of inflation is affecting both retailers and consumers alike, and many are making adjustments in response.

Large amounts of consumers are shifting to lower-margin grocery items — as opposed to general merchandise — from retailers like Walmart and Target, as rising inflation has many shoppers purchasing little more than the necessities. Trends like this are being reflected by retailers’ first quarter numbers, which indicate alarming decreases in profit.

Retailers like Walmart and Target  hope that adjustments to their business operations will help to work things out in the long run, but current numbers reported by WSJ indicate a possible shift for many other big name retailers like Bed Bath and Beyond, Kohls Co., and more.

Additionally, anxiety is growing as modern consumers are becoming more concerned by the effects of the retail industry on the environment, and are expecting more accountability from industry leaders. As such, many retailers have recently begun to make adjustments to their business operations and policies, as a way to cover the cost of inflation and as a means to operate more sustainably.

Now, more than ever, is the time to ease this retail anxiety by taking control of returns.

The Effect on Returns Policies

In the face of these trends, some retailers are changing their returns policies, among other things, to control the cost of inflation while decreasing their environmental impact.

Popular fashion retailer Zara, for example, recently made waves with a change to their returns policy, which now includes a £1.95 ($2.46) charge for returns at designated drop-off locations — a process which used to be free.

While Zara’s in-store returns are still free, the change in their returns policy was met with mixed reactions. With the impact of inflation and higher costs of living felt by their customer-base, some shoppers took to the internet to voice their frustrations over more rising costs. However, retailers like Zara hope to justify these changes to their returns with the positive effect it can have towards tackling inflation and improving the environment.

But at Returnalyze, we believe that taking control of your returns goes beyond merely changing your returns policy — it means using your returns as a way to control and improve every aspect of your business.

You Have the Power to Control Your Returns 

For retailers, taking control of returns is key to navigating this current climate.

Controlling your returns not only improves your bottom line, but doing so will increase your efficiency and drive sustainability, therefore creating satisfied and loyal customers. And contrary to popular belief, it’s absolutely possible for retailers to take control of their own returns. The endless possibilities lie in tracking, analyzing, and responding to the returns data.

By understanding every aspect of your returns data, you have the power to tackle the rising costs of inflation, promote sustainable business practices, and keep your customers happy.

But tracking the data does more than just help you control your returns, it uncovers all kinds of valuable insight that is critical to your business.

Use the Data to Your Advantage with Returnalyze

At Returnalyze, we provide data-driven solutions that improve virtually every aspect of your retail business.

With one intelligent dashboard used by our retail partners, coupled with a hands-on approach to walk retailers through the data findings, we’re helping our partners take control of  their returns, suppliers, products, and customer-base.

We’re helping retailers track their returns to discover where issues may arise along their supply chain, which oftentimes leads to unwanted returns. Knowing where delays are occurring among supplying or shipping your product gives you the power to take specific action, increase your efficiency, and create a more sustainable process.

And with our partnership, we’ll guide you through it all.

Additionally, we’re helping businesses make every sale count, by preventing unwanted returns from happening in the first place. Retailers are saving themselves — and their customers — a lot of money and frustration.

Plus, by helping your shoppers avoid returning unwanted items, you’re not just creating more loyal customers for your brand, you’re decreasing the amount of products that may eventually wind up in a landfill.

Using your returns data to keep customers happy and loyal isn’t the only perk, though. Your data will tell you a lot about your customer tendencies and habits. Our AI-driven dashboard will uncover the details, and we’ll provide the actionable insight to use to your advantage.

Now is the time to take control of your business through your returns, and Returnalyze is here to help you do just that. We invite you to reach out to our team of experts and start a valuable partnership, today.