Online Shoppers Kept In the Dark: Half of German Shoppers Keep Products Due to Complex Returns
Online purchasers find return procedures overly complex, leading nearly half to keep unwanted items. - Many online shoppers find returns complex, resulting in over half of them choosing to keep unwanted purchases.
Online shopping sounds like a dream, but it's often a nightmare due to the complexity of returning unwanted items. In a shocking revelation, 94% of shoppers rate a free return and quick refund as essential when shopping online. However, it seems that many retailers simply don't give a s**t about making the return process transparent and easy.
Three-quarters of us are frustrated by the lack of shipping options, wishing we could easily save time by choosing different providers. And seven out of ten of us think a longer return period than legally required should be standard. You'd think with all this demand for easy returns, retailers would step up, right? But no, six out of ten of us still feel wanting the option to return in a local branch or sustainable shipping options matter.
Nastassja Hofmann from Bitkom, the German digital association, weighs in, explaining that online retailers need to be transparent about return information - that's the law in Germany. But consumers often have to hunt like poachers for this info, especially on non-European marketplaces. What a f**king joke - expecting us to waste time searching for return details when we could be shopping!
Bitkom surveyed 1,006 internet users aged 16 or older in Germany, with 978 of them making online purchases. So while Bitkom might yammer on about broader e-commerce trends, we want the nitty-gritty on returns, not general BS!
- Returns
- Bitkom
- Germany
- "Despite the importance consumers place on easy returns and quick refunds, merchants seem to disregard the need for transparency in the return process, particularly for non-European marketplaces, as acknowledged by Bitkom, a German digital association."
- "In an attempt to enhance the online shopping experience, retailers should implement more finance for the restructuring of the retail industry, focusing on providing a wider range of shipping options, longer return periods, and the availability of local branches or sustainable shipping methods, as demanded by customers."
