Don’t try it on!
Online giant Asos blacklists ‘serial returners’ who wear items once then send them back for refund
‘Just wanted to give you a heads up’
IT’S one way to look good on the cheap: Keep the tag on your new dress, wear it once and pray you don’t spill your dinner down it.
But now tricksy shoppers might take caution when trying before buying – after Asos announced it will blacklist customers guilty of being ‘serial returners’.
It comes as industry figures reveal online fashion companies are suffering huge costs because many shoppers order items, wear them once or twice and send them back free of charge for a full refund.
A Barclaycard study found half of all clothes and shoes bought online are returned – most often because they do not fit – costing retailers billions of pounds a year in lost sales.
And retailers estimate a quarter of refunded items are unfit for resale because they have been used, are damaged or have parts missing. These products then have to be shredded or recycled.
Asos, the online fashion giant, has announced that it will actively trace and blacklist those guilty of making serial returns. This could result in customers’ accounts being deactivated, it said.
The retailer sent an email to customers this week warning: ‘We need to make sure our returns remain sustainable for us and for the environment.
‘So if we notice an unusual pattern, we might investigate and take action. It’s unlikely to affect you, but we wanted to give you a heads up.’ Small print on Asos’s website adds: ‘If we notice an unusual pattern of returns activity that doesn’t sit right, e.g. we suspect someone is actually wearing their purchases and then returning them or ordering and returning loads – way, waaay more than even the most loyal Asos customer would order – then we might have to deactivate the account and any associated accounts.’
Last year, fashion retailer Boden, which offers a generous free returns policy, put customers on notice that it will not accept people abusing the system by returning items that have been worn.
It described those customers returning worn clothes as ‘rotten apples’ and warned it will block sales in certain cases.
Boden’s website issues a stark warning: ‘If you are a pathological chancer and simply can’t help yourself, we recommend trying it on with our competitors instead.’
Asos is making other changes to its free returns policy that will make it easier for genuine customers to send items back.
Under new rules, the length of time shoppers have to return items will go up from 28 to 45 days. There will also be a cash refund offered up to 28 days and a gift voucher refund up to 45 days.
Steve Gershik, from web retail experts InRiver, said: ‘Free delivery and returns have been a major driving force behind the consumer allure of Asos, but its new policy highlights even industry leaders are not immune to the crippling cost of returns.
‘Although initially put in place to protect online shoppers from items that didn’t meet expectations, the returns process could instead become a lose-lose scenario for retailers and consumers alike. As the trend of serial returners continues to escalate, Asos is monitoring purchase patterns more closely and shoppers could risk missing out on the benefit of free returns if operating profit margin doesn’t improve.’
Asos, which is due to publish its interim results on Wednesday, saw its shares fall 4 per cent to 3,176p yesterday after it revealed its new returns policy earlier this week.
A Barclaycard survey of 2,000 shoppers last summer found almost one in ten admitted buying clothes to wear once with the sole aim of posting a photo to social media before returning purchases shortly after.