This suggests that there are plenty of opportunities for online retailers to make advancements in realistically representing the products that they sell. The most common complaint among Internet users with regard to returns is having to pay for return postage. When asked to identify the three biggest problems associated with returning online purchases, two-thirds of Internet users identified having to pay for return postage. Nearly half of respondents identified the fact that returning an online purchase requires a trip to the post office, UPS or FedEx pick-up location. Not being able to return products to a store came in as the third biggest problem, demonstrating the inherent advantage enjoyed by multi-channel retailers.
Internet users expect most online shopping sites to offer numerous fulfillment capabilities.
E-mail capabilities are especially important to online purchasers who have ever returned a product, suggesting that satisfaction with this capability may be necessary for repeat business. Nearly half of respondents expect most online retailers to provide the option of returning products to a local store. This factor was significantly more likely to be identified by Internet users who wanted to return an online purchase, but decided that it was too much of a hassle. Not being able to return a product to a brick and mortar store is clearly a hassle for some online purchasers. The good news for online retailers is that more often than not online purchasers making returns are not so dissatisfied with the return process that it adversely affects future shopping behavior with that specific retailer.