The Hidden Sustainability Impact of Returns That Merchants Should Pay Attention To
Footwear News recently covered the environmental impact of returns. Research shows it impacts the environment in three key aspects: landfill, carbon emissions and packaging waste. Newmine CEO, Navjit Bhasin, explains the true cost of the returns problem and explains how Chief Returns Officer can help retailers reduce returns:
"Only about 50% of returned product ends back up on the sheld to be resold, because it's often more expensive to refurbish and remarket reuturns that just destroying them or throwing them away."
However, a recent Incisiv report, sponsored by Newmine, found that 73% of returns occur due to retailer controllable actions. Despite being so prolific, these problems can be difficult to identify within a company. A lot of this data is siloed within different departments and it is rare for a retailer to have a dedicated returns team. One option is for brands to deploy a third-party solution, such as Newmine’s Chief Returns Officer program, in order to collect and analyze this data into actionable steps.
“We use a proprietary natural language processing algorithm to mine product reviews and call center transcripts to diagnose the root cause,” said Bhasin. “From there, the AI kicks in by prescribing targeted actions retailers can take to minimize returns–Such as updating the website copy or imagery, or pulling stock for review.”
Source: Footwear News, 5/3/2021