Serial returners beware: Retailers attempt to tackle the problem of 'wardrobing'
It’s called ‘wardrobing’. You buy an item of clothing from your favourite online retailer, wear it once, then send it back. A recent survey from retail technology company Checkpoint Systems in the UK found that one fifth of shoppers bought things with the intention of returning them after a single use.
This proportion rises to 43% of 16-to-24-year-olds and 39% of 25-to-34-year-olds. The survey estimated that dishonest returns are costing UK retailers upwards of £1.5bn (€1.73bn) every year.
Research from Barclaycard in the UK meanwhile has found that a quarter ofonline retailers have seen a significant increase in goods being returned in the last two years. Two fifths of these said that they planned to make returns policies stricter and more stringent.
Of the businesses that have tightened up theirpolicies, four in ten say this is because too many customers are over-ordering items knowing they will return the majority, while three in ten claim shoppers are actually using items and then returning them.
Retailers are now fighting back with a raft of new measures. Some are now using a ‘smart tag’ on individual items. This is a bright red knob prominently attached. You can twist it off easily, but if you do, you can forget about returning it.
These tags are the brainchild of the same tech company, Checkpoint Systems, who point out that social media can be a retailer’s best friend for sales and worst enemy when it comes towardrobing.
People want to be seen in the latest fashions on social media. However, the ‘wear-once’ ethos plays directly into the behaviour of wardrobing. Products that are returned after a single wear often can’t easily be put back on the shop floor — negatively impacting your bottom line
The company goes on to recommend the use of its smart tag, saying “…nobody wants a security tag hijacking their perfect selfie.”
Consumers are now feeling the impact of retailers resisting serial returning. That Barclaycard survey found that 14% of consumers have been penalised by a retailer for their returns behavior. These penalties vary from from warning emails to account deactivations. Penalties have also been incurred for returning too many items, sending back purchases that have been used, returning goods without the right packaging or missing the returns deadline.
Last year, online retail giant Asos announced that it was ‘toughening up its returns policy’ and said that it would take action against shoppers who buy with the intention of returning. The company also increased the returns period from 28 to 45 days; after that, a customer will receive a gift voucher instead of a refund. We’ve also seen reports of Asos deactivating customer accounts as a result of their returns activity.
Anita Liu Harvey is director of strategy at Barclaycard. She points out that consumers have come to expect free returns as standard. If they don’t get them, they shop elsewhere.
“As a result, we are seeing retailers implementing stricter returns policies to try to clamp down on serial returners and reduce the impact that returns are having on their business. These more stringent policies have begun to affect consumers, with some retailers starting to send warning emails to customers about accounts being deactivated, should unusual or suspicious behaviour continue. On the flip side, it does seem shoppers are becoming more mindful about the purchases they make and the impact their returns could have on the environment.”
Further survey data from online retailer OnBuy corroborates this emerging trend. Some 73% of consumers have thought twice about a purchase for fear of being blacklisted; 86% said they checked the returns section of a site before buying, while 32% admitted to being a serial returner. Fifty-five percent of UK shoppers said they would return a product as soon as possible if they weren’t happy, while 59% admitted they had been too lazy to return an item they didn’t like.
The good news from an Irish point of view is that under EU distance selling regulations, you have a right to return online purchases for any reason at all if you do so within 14 days. There is a long list of things that fall outside the remit of the regulations — concert and travel tickets, hotel booking, digital content to name a few — but clothing is not one of them.
So if you order an item of clothing online from an EU-based seller, then change your mind, you can send it back within two weeks for a full refund.
The European Consumer centre (ECC Ireland) points out that the regulations don’t apply to clothing that’s custom made or personalised. Moreover, it’s also veryimportant to return the goods in good condition.
It’s always a good idea to read the terms and conditions and check the returns policy, just to make sure that the trader has a clear understanding of consumer rights. Double check too who isexpected to take care of the cost of returning the goods.
ECC Ireland says that the centre has had complaints where traders have told consumers that the 14-day period starts from the time that the purchase is made.
“This is not correct,” says a spokesperson. “It is always advisable for consumers to check the terms and conditions to see if it complies with the Consumer Rights Directive and/or contact the trader to ask what the returns policy. The trader’s willingness or not to respond could also be a factor in a consumer’s decision to purchase or not.”
The elephant in the room is of course Brexit. As it stands, we are currently in the transition period, during which everything remains as it was, and all of the consumer protections enshrined in UK law continue to work.
When the transition period ends at the end of the year, you will no longer automatically enjoy the same rights that you have under EU law. While UK domestic legislation is currently aligned with EU consumer protection law, this could change in the future. So if you purchase a product online from a UK trader after December 31, 2020, it’s vital to pay special attention to the terms and conditions. For added protection, always pay using a credit or debit card in order to avail of chargeback — which is a procedure by which a card issuer can reclaim your cash in the event of a disputed transaction.
At the end of the transition period, consumers who have a dispute with a trader based in the UK will no longer be able to seek redress through the European Consumer Centres Network (ECC Net) online dispute resolution platform. Also, the European Small Claims Procedure will cease to operate in the UK in such a case.
For the moment, however, you continue to enjoy all of the protections of EU law. Just to be sure however, it’s always a good idea to double check returns policies, so that you won’t have to fight to secure your rights.
