Navar recently surveyed almost 700 U.S. consumers who returned at least one online purchase over the preceding 12 months to better understand people’s reasoning with regard to returns when shopping online.

Here are some of the key findings:

• “The Bedroom is the New Fitting Room — Online shoppers are buying to try, with the intention of keeping their favorite item and returning the rest. This trend, called ‘bracketing,’ is most common among millennials, high-income, and female shoppers. It represents a large opportunity for retailers to transform returns into an experience catered to consumer needs. It also signals that returns are not the end of the customer relationship, and can drive both loyalty and new revenue.”
• “E-commerce Drives In-Store Foot Traffic with Convenient Returns — 
  Consumers like returning online purchases in stores, and retailers who make this process easier earn a competitive advantage. Shoppers like to return items to stores because they get immediate credit back; and they can shop for other items while in the store. This is especially true for high-income consumers and those under age 30.”
• Transparency Helps Amazon Shoppers Forgive a Difficult Returns Process — Amazon’s return requires shoppers to take more steps, such as contacting the retailer for return authorization. However, the E-commerce giant also provides greater transparency into the process. As a result, Amazon shoppers rate their overall satisfaction higher.”

Click the image to read more of the highlights from the Narvar study.