Trevor Sumner wrote an article titled The Case For The Bright Future Of Brick-and-Mortar Retail.
« Stores have better unit economics – online returns are a massive growing problem, while stores provide better CaC, profitability, brand loyalty, return rates, etc. »
« Stores also have better unit economics beyond the Cost of Acquisition. eCommerce return rates are over 30% where as stores are just 8.9% – a 3.4x difference! In fact, online return rates have spiked 95% in the last 5 years. »
« Even worse, online over half of retailers offer free returns, which is extraordinarily costly, where as consumers have to return items themselves in store. The costs add up. For example, Revolve processed $531 million in returns on $499 million in revenue! Retailers lose a third of their revenue to returns, says RSR Research retail analyst Paula Rosenblum. Happy Returns estimates that in the US $550 billion in goods will be returned in 2020. »
« In reality, in store customers spend 83% more and return 64% less, so not only is your cost of acquisition lower at scale, but also the profitability of clients is greater. »
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