Germany Online Customer Dis-satisfaction

Poll finds 34% of German online shoppers return their purchases

Friday, November 18th, 2011

A third of German online shoppers are returning their purchases because they fall short of expectations, according to a new survey from software company Novomind.

The Hamburg-based firm polled 1,069 German internet shoppers between May and June, with the results underlining the huge importance of the returns delivery market at the moment.

The survey found one in 10 online shoppers were returning goods because the photographs and accompanying information gave a false impression of the products.

Fashion purchases were the most frequent items to be returned as unwanted, according to the study, with more than half of all customers revealing that they sent back garments because they did not like them, or because the clothing did not fit properly.

Other categories with a high returns rate included furniture and household goods, with 20% of shoppers stating that they had had home furnishings sent back.

Novomind said product returns could potentially “decimate” profits for online merchants, costing several euros in transport along with extra work in customer service and returns accounting.

It meant online retailers were very interested in finding ways to reduce the number of returned parcels.
Markus Rohmeyer, director and head of product information management at Novomind, said an important aspect for online retailers to get right was in presenting their products on their websites in an accurate and realistic way.
“The more information we can put together about a product from different sources, the more accurate the consumers’ impression and the better they can judge whether the article really is what they are looking for.”

Source: Post&Parcel/Novomind