SIRAS Explains Rapid Returns On TVs, PCs

By Steve Smith On Apr 18 2011 - 4:01am

REDMOND, WASH – Why would a consumer return a TV, PC or PC accessories within an hour of purchase?

According to an exclusive report for TWICE, SIRAS, developers of point-of-sale (POS) Electronic Product Registration technology and services, found more than 25 percent of returns attempted on the same day of purchase for those products (including printers) take place within one hour of sale.

SIRAS said that for these products, where same-day returns account for 15 percent of all return attempts, the results mean that nearly 4 percent of all attempted returns on these purchases take place within an hour of the customer leaving the cash register.

“One hour is barely enough time for a customer to go home, open a box, and come back,” said Peter Junger, SIRAS president, “so anyone returning a purchase that quickly must have either made an obvious mistake or had a sudden change of heart, or could be running some kind of scheme involving theft or fraud.”

Junger noted, “While there’s not much that retailers can do to prevent buyer remorse, there are things they can do to help customers get the right product the first time, such as changes to sales training. Retailers can also implement efforts to avoid being taken by a thief or fraudster at the service desk. Looking at the numbers, any retailer who makes a dent in same-day returns is going to realize gains either through reduced waste, increased revenue, or both.”

Junger said the most common kinds of fraud involving rapid returns include brick-in-box returns (product substitutions), where an old or broken product is put into the box of the newly purchased item, or credit card (or gift card) schemes, where someone is trying to convert a purchase made with a stolen credit card into quick cash.

“Our study is based on industry averages across retail, but retailers would want to compare results among their stores in order to find out their operations’ strengths and weaknesses,” he said.