By Laura Aydelette Cordless phones and telephone answering devices have the highest return rates in the consumer electronics industry. In an effort to understand how to decrease product returns, CEMA invited Alan Winik of Circuit City, Gary Yacoubian of Myer-Emco, Tim Baxter of Sony, and Bob Wonsetler of Lucent Technologies to its Spring Conference to discuss the pervasive product returns problem. The perspective is to keep the customer rather than to try to dissuade the return of a product.
Consumers are now more aware of how easy it can be to return products.
Easy return policies have given some retailers a competitive advantage. Most consumers do not blame the retailer for product returns -they blame the manufacturer. According to the retailers on the panel, the manufacturer has to truly understand how the consumer will be using the product in order to decrease returns. Phones have to be tested in kitchens, not labs, to understand what the consumer can expect. Manufacturers carry a heavy burden to decrease returns.