Managing consumer returns with technology-enabled countermeasures

Akturk, M. Serkan; Ketzenberg, Michael; Yıldız, Barış

doi:10.1016/j.omega.2020.102337

Cited by 24 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…At the same time, it is also necessary to create a clear understanding of a firm’s return policies (Dailey and Ülkü, 2018). Customer profiling and product tracking can help companies mitigate return abuse (Akturk et al , 2020). Retailers consider returns by customers as an opportunity to improve contact with them and thereby improve their overall experience (National Retail Federation, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fraudulent returning refers to “consumers taking back goods to a retailer knowing that such a return are contrary to the firm or legal rules and regulations governing such returns (including returning functional but used or consumer-damaged goods)” (Harris, 2008, p. 461). Fraudulent returning impacts retailers profitability (Akturk et al , 2020). Consumers’ past favourable experience, greater knowledge of company and legal return policies, supportive social norms and thrill-seeking propensity contribute to higher fraudulent returning proclivity (Harris, 2008).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The grey and dark facets of online activities: a study of consumer perceptions

Handa

Ahuja

2022

JICES

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Purpose The internet has provided a gamut of benefits to consumers. The digital world, however, also provides space for various illegal or unethical consumer activities. Consumers may not always be fully aware of the unethical or illegal nature of some of the online activities that they engage in. This study aims to examine the questionable side of online consumer behaviour in an emerging market where internet penetration and smart phone accessibility is rapidly expanding. Using a third-person technique, this study attempts to empirically capture the perceptions of Indian adults regarding the prevalence of various questionable online activities such as unauthorized downloading of digital content, spreading fake news/misinformation and fraudulent returns and to understand the extent to which these respondents believe that such actions are acceptable or illegal and unethical. Design/methodology/approach An online questionnaire was used to collect primary data from 212 consumers. Non-probability convenience and snowball sampling was used for the purpose. Findings Unauthorized watching or downloading of online content is reported to be the most prevalent among the various types of questionable behaviours examined. However, it is behaviours such as fraudulent returns and spreading misinformation through online channels which are considered to be the most unethical or illegal. Certain behaviours which may be deemed to be unethical and illegal nevertheless are seen as acceptable. Significant differences between demographics in the case of several of the unethical activities are reported. Research limitations/implications This study examines the grey and dark side of online behaviours among consumers in an emerging market and points to the need for action on several fronts to increase consumer awareness and sensitivity about the unethical or illegal nature of some of their online activities and the implications for multiple stakeholders. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations directed at consumers, marketers and policymakers are discussed. Originality/value Although the benefits of online communication channels have been extensively studied, their ability to facilitate certain unethical and even illegal activities is an under-researched area. The inclination to engage in these types of questionable behaviours may have been exacerbated by the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study highlights the importance of research on various grey consumer activities in the digital space and paves the way for further investigations by identifying online actions which are considered as most prevalent and/or unethical and illegal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The grey and dark facets of online activities: a study of consumer perceptions

Handa

Ahuja

2022

JICES

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“…Shang, Ghosh, and Galbreth (2017) showed that, when the extent of "wardrobing" (the practice of opportunistically buying and returning products) is high, pricing that induces further wardrobing can actually lead to higher retailer profits. Akturk et al (2021) examine how and when customer profiling and product tracking should be used to counter opportunistic and fraudulent consumer returns. A common theme in the research described above is that full refunds are not always theoretically optimal.…”

Section: Relevant Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Bracketing of purchases to manage size uncertainty: Should online retailers be worried?

Balaram

Perdikaki

Galbreth

2022

Naval Research Logistics

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For online apparel retailers, sizing has proven to be a particularly thorny challenge—no matter how much information is provided online, it is often impossible for an online shopper to determine exactly which size of an apparel item will fit her best. Given the increasing ubiquity of free returns (full refund, no return shipping charge), consumers often manage this size uncertainty by bracketing their online apparel purchases, that is, ordering two additional sizes (one smaller, one larger) with the intention of keeping the one that fits best and returning the others. Since bracketing is a relatively new phenomenon in retailing, its net effect on retailer profits is not well‐understood. From a retailer's perspective, bracketing is detrimental since it leads to an increase in consumer returns and the associated costs, which can be quite substantial. On the other hand, bracketing can also be beneficial to the retailer by alleviating consumers' concerns about size, and driving higher net sales. In this paper, we establish how price can be used as a lever to influence consumer bracketing behavior, and examine the impact of bracketing on the profits of a monopolist retailer who offers free returns. We provide prescriptions for when retailers should encourage or discourage bracketing based on three key parameters: the retailer's reverse logistics cost, consumers' return hassle cost, and the product's match probability. As expected, in many cases it is optimal for the retailer to price such that consumers are discouraged from bracketing, and thus the related returns processing costs are avoided. However, we also find that when the product's match probability is moderate, consumers' hassle cost is low and retailer's reverse logistics cost is low, a price that encourages bracketing is the optimal strategy for the retailer, challenging the conventional wisdom that bracketing by consumers is always bad for retailers.

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“…Some studies also investigate the countermeasures for consumer return behavior. For instance, Akturk et al [42] examine retail abuse with respect to both opportunistic and fraudulent consumer behavior and evaluate two innovative technology-enabled countermeasures to mitigate return abuse. Ren et al [43] investigate the optimal pricing strategy and return and return insurance strategy and give the conditions of providing different strategies.…”

Section: Consumer Return In Operations Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimal Showroom Service Strategy and Power Structure for Retailers considering Consumer Return

Zhang

Chen

et al. 2021

Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society

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This paper investigates the optimal showroom service strategy and power structure for online and offline retailers considering online consumer return. Combining two service strategies and three competition power structures, six models are constructed to analyze the effects of the showrooming effect and consumer return on retailers’ decisions and consumer surplus. The results show that the SS strategy is the best choice for offline retailers, and it is also an effective way to solve consumer return. Online retailers are suggested to cooperate with offline retailers to implement SS strategy and enhance the showrooming effect. Under the SS strategy, the offline-led power structure is the best choice for online retailers, but the online-led power structure is optimal for offline retailers. We also find that the supply chain and consumers are more likely to implement SS strategy and offline-led power structure. More importantly, we pinpoint that there is no incentive for retailers to implement the Nash power structure. Therefore, it is recommended to revitalize the real economy of offline retailers and implement the strategy SS effectively.

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Managing consumer returns with technology-enabled countermeasures

Cited by 24 publications

References 33 publications

The grey and dark facets of online activities: a study of consumer perceptions

The grey and dark facets of online activities: a study of consumer perceptions

Bracketing of purchases to manage size uncertainty: Should online retailers be worried?

Optimal Showroom Service Strategy and Power Structure for Retailers considering Consumer Return

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