Restructuring Apparel Retail Post Pandemic

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Apparel is a necessity, which means even with the pandemic closing many stores across the country, clothing sales continue. Through ecommerce platforms, consumers can shop from their favorite stores contact-free and without the need for a mask.

One of the issues retailers weren’t prepared for, is returns. During the pandemic, returns have increased. This likely relates to the inability to try clothing before buying.

With returns on the rise, retailers have had to restructure the way they process returns, including:

  • Extending return deadlines
  • Changing receipt policies
  • Altering return shipping costs

Unfortunately, even with these changes, many retailers are struggling to retain control of their return departments and policies. This is where help desk services in Texas, Florida, and California come in handy.

Outsourcing Returns and Customer Care

Trying to maintain all levels of customer communication online is difficult. Wires get crossed, policies get confused, and this disorganization makes processing returns across multiple departments and product lines a complicated task.

According to the National Retail Federation, 2020 saw $428 billion in returned products. Worse than the number of items being returned to U.S. retailers, of those returns, nearly 6% were found to be fraudulent. This adds another variable for apparel businesses to consider when designing return policies and measuring data for successful online sales campaigns.

At Anexa BPO, we offer a variety of services to counteract the disorganization caused by the pandemic to retailers across the U.S. Using customer service outsourcing companies and including cross-cultural assistance, such as call centers with Spanish-speaking agents, you can streamline your return policy across all channels.

Having a unified process for returns across your entire company will not only help you maintain control over products coming and going but deter fraudulent returns from occurring.

Data and Reporting

Another reason many retailers are feeling the strain of returns, especially those who are new to ecommerce platforms, is a lack of understanding when it comes to data. Sales are formulaic. This means everything you do in your apparel retail store, from ordering to markdowns has a formula to predict the outcomes of those actions.

Anexa BPO provides services to calculate risks and rewards in retail, helping you navigate the restructuring of your return program and what it will mean for you and your customers long-term.

Monitoring reports and analytics, we can help you understand and prepare for predicted return levels at each quarter. Whether the pandemic poses new unforeseen changes to the ecommerce industry, or this is the new normal, we must become accustomed to, our services are designed to optimize sales, customer service, and ROI.

Contact Anexa BPO to Learn More

Anexa BPO works with businesses across the United States, restructuring ecommerce platforms and customer communication. In a post-COVID world, the new normal has become living with the ups and downs of pandemic-related policies and potential closures. Having an optimized ecommerce business space is a lifeline for apparel companies across the country.

Interested in learning more about how our services work? We invite you to contact Anexa BPO today.