July 6, 2021 
In the era of IoT, retail businesses are tenderly using online platforms to push up sales and meet hefty customer expectations. Assuming this to be the trend, offering free delivery and free returns has led to increasing online sales. Of course, who would not want to buy from a brand that offers pretentious customer services?
For example, Bower and Maxham, have concluded that customers who were supposed to pay for returns decreased their spending with the same retailer by 75-100% within 2 years and those who had free returns increased their spending by 158-457%.
The importance of free returns is highlighted in various reports by giant business retailers. In a 2018 report from KPMG, more than 67% of online return product, which is a 5% increase in comparison with 2016 and 2017.
Allowing customers to return products through a variety of routes is also a part of business marketing models. Buying online and returning in-store is one of the most popular offerings amongst many.
buy online return in store is guiding the consumer to buy online return in store. It is one of the highly effective business models that allow for a quicker return/exchange process, brings down the cost to the retailers and consumers, and shortens the order lifecycle.
BORIS Process
The customer gets the product
The customer receives the product and the order is completed by the retailer. Settlement occurs to the order being placed by the customer.
The customer returns the item to the physical store
If the customer did not like the product he has received, it can be returned to a brick and mortar store. Upon returning, the retailer can either exchange the product or initiate a refund.
Customer exchanges the product or asks for a return
Considering the scope whether to return or exchange, the goods are sent from the retailer’s supply chain to the stores, and order status is updated as returned or exchanged.
The refund issued at the end
For most retailers, a nightly batch job to refund any amount due to customers is taken into consideration. At EOD, the financial posting is a negative sale for inventory returned along with an increase in book inventory.
What are the advantages of buying online and returning in store?
In-store return experience may add to customer lifetime value more through future purchases than through immediate exchanges. If your loyal customers are dissatisfied with the return or exchange experience likely they would not buy from you and this hefty impact on future purchases. So, if you want to long stand in the market, keeping tabs on customer satisfaction is the key.
Also, offering e-commerce in-store returns for online purchases meets the flexibility, speed, tracking, and automated alert requirements for improving omnichannel experiences. When
Overall, the evidence has suggested that an in-store return experience represents a significant opportunity for retailers if they handle in-store return processes carefully.
Retailers who implement BORIS certainly have:
- Improved customer satisfaction.
- More repeated customers.
- Higher in-store sales and future purchases.
- Reduction in inventory shipped back to distribution centers.
- Avoidance of returns shipping cost, if there is a “Free-return” policy.
What are the challenges in BORIS?
Usually, brick and mortar stores lack the ability to pull up eCommerce orders from POS/devices. Apparently, stores need to integrate and develop extensive IT systems to cope with the demands of online return product. With little management, disconnected systems, retailers may find it difficult to mark indispensable information such as the rate of return and the costs of staff needed to process the returned item.
The takeaway
Implementing BORIS makes sense to the retailers who believe in driving traffic to the store with its standalone marketing strategies. Offering hassle-free and no-cost in-store returns are one of the best ways to make this possible. To improve supply chain success, using a POS/OMS integration and device management system can really help!
