Van Hedel just hung up with one of his customers. “I was explaining to a lady that the bench she returned came back to us damaged. There is a scratch on the coating. She was very surprised, because she thought she had packed it well,” he tells RTL News.
According to the furniture seller, damaged returns are the rule rather than the exception. “Six out of ten products are returned to us damaged. Sofas, cabinets and tables are simply not made to be sent back and forth. No matter how well you package it, there will always be a scratch or the screw holes have been used.”
Order blindly
Of course, you should be able to return a product if you are not satisfied with your purchase, the entrepreneur believes. After all, that is a statutory consumer right. But the fact that customers can return their furniture for free via online stores such as Bol.com and Fonq is a thorn in his side. “The madness of clothing has spread to volume goods. Under the guise of ‘free returns’, products are ordered indiscriminately. I get furniture returned on the grounds that it is too big or too small, even though all the sizes are listed.”
This is recognizable to Kenan Aslan, CEO of furniture store Furnea in Schiedam. Furnea also sells furniture via Bol.com and Fonq. “More than a third of these are returned. This is much less for orders via our own website; five percent has been returned since we decided to charge return costs this year. Customers order more consciously, read better and call or chat if they have any questions. about a product.”
Account for the customer
Van Hedel also charges return costs in its own webshop. “Only 3 percent of all our orders, including those from the major online stores, are returned. That is very low, but I have really made it a mission to prevent returns. We take photos from all angles and attach extensive documents with what you can expect from the product. We even give negative purchasing advice: if you don’t know what a natural product is, don’t buy this wooden bench,” he says. According to Van Hedel, the products that he does get back were purchased ‘in 99 percent of the cases’ through the major online stores.
If returned products are damaged, the customer will be responsible for the bill if this is stated in the conditions. Van Hedel is committed to this, but hears that many entrepreneurs are taking their losses. “You then have to argue with a customer who says it is not their fault. They usually get angry and write a negative review. And that of course affects how much you sell.”
The entrepreneur wants free returns to stop and wrote a critical LinkedIn post in which he calls on politicians to legally prohibit this. Van Hedel received support, but also criticism. Because if you are against free returns, then you simply don’t sell through large online stores, do you? A typical boomer reaction, he thinks. “That is the same as telling someone who has broken down on the roadside that they should call a party other than the ANWB. As an online entrepreneur you are dependent on these types of companies, one third of our turnover comes through Bol.com.”
Mid-impact
Aslan is also trying to become less dependent on the major online players. “Three years ago, 52 percent of our turnover came through these platforms, but the high number of returns and damaged products led to too many losses. We are now 10 percent dependent. Yet you cannot ignore them. You also need them for brand awareness. need these online stores,” he says.
According to Aslan and Van Hedel, consumers have not yet sufficiently considered the environmental impact of returning online orders. “To get such a bench home, it has to be packaged, it goes from the hub in Goor to the main hub in Houten and a delivery appointment has to be made. And then the customer sends it back because the size is not right,” says Van Hedel. He is concerned that the large online stores will automatically charge return costs. “As long as Amazon does not charge return costs, Bol.com will not do so either. That is why the government must intervene.”
Niels Agatz, professor of last-mile supply chains at the Rotterdam School of Management, does not think it is up to the government to require paid returns. “I can imagine that the government wants to protect consumers in case they buy products that do not meet their expectations. It is up to the sector itself to see what is reasonable. When a few frontrunners dare to do it, you sometimes see that other companies go along with it.”
Technology
He thinks that in the future more and more customers will be willing to pay return costs. “Research shows that it is good for sales if returns are dealt with fairly, but at the same time, young people are very concerned with sustainability and the climate. This group in particular buys a lot online.”
The professor does see a role for the government in reducing the number of returns. “Web shops for clothing are starting to look more and more like virtual fitting rooms and there are apps that can measure your feet so that you can buy the right size shoes in one go. The government can ensure that these types of developments are more widely accessible to smaller entrepreneurs.”
Those kinds of technologies can help, but according to Van Hedel and Aslan, the fastest way to fewer packages is to make return costs mandatory. Aslan not only sees that it helps in his company’s accounting, he also notices it in his private life. “Since Zara charges shipping and return costs, my wife no longer orders entire boxes full of clothes, half of which she returns. She now looks at what she really needs and orders together with her sisters who live nearby.”
Postage costs
As far as he is concerned, paying for returns will not only be mandatory, but also the shipping costs. “I also expect this to happen in the future, there is more and more attention for the climate.” He has already taken a small step in that regard. “Customers who pick up their order themselves will receive ten percent of the purchase price back.”
According to the entrepreneur, the customer who spoke to Van Hedel about the returned bench responded surprisingly well. Her bench also turned out to be too big. “I don’t experience it often, but she took her loss. She said, ‘If I had known all this, I would never have done it.'”
Bol.com: important service
Bol.com calls free returns ‘an important service’. “We think it is important that customers can view an item at home and, if it does not meet expectations, can return it.”
The company states that ‘preventing returns is better than cure’ and focuses on size charts, customer reviews, product specifications and photos. “This gives the customer a good idea of what he is buying and we minimize the chance of a return. But that is not always possible. Fortunately, we only get a few percent returned.” Bol.com does not make any statements about exactly how many returns this concerns. The company says it will help its sales partners reduce returns.
According to the spokesperson, 70 percent of the returned products are sold ‘as new’. The remaining 30 percent is sold at a discount, goes to a buyer or outlet, back to the supplier or to a charity. “Items are only destroyed in exceptional cases, such as a broken mirror or a torn bag of dog food.”
Jeremiah Albinus, CEO of Fonq, does not recognize the numbers of returns and damaged products mentioned by Van Hedel and Azlan. “At Fonq, returns are around 10 percent. Of these, 80 percent can go back on the shelves, 10 percent goes back to the supplier, 7 percent is sold at a discount and 3 percent goes to charity or is recycled.”
Entrepreneurs who sell via the Fonq marketplace must arrange the returns themselves. “If 6 out of 10 products come back damaged, I don’t think you should charge the consumer for return costs, but invest more time and energy in the quality of your product and your shipping,” says Albinus.
€2.99 shipping costs
Fonq now charges 2.99 euros in shipping costs, regardless of the order. “That is a contribution to cover the higher costs for shipping, but it is also a way to create awareness among customers.” Albinus is not necessarily negative about the introduction of return costs. “I don’t think it’s crazy to ask for a small contribution for that, but it does require customization.” According to him, whether return costs will be introduced is up to market leaders. “If Bol.com does it, that would be a reason for us to also consider it.”
2023-09-14 10:46:17
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