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Design of win-win return policies for online retailers

Author

Listed:
  • Fan, Huirong
  • Khouja, Moutaz
  • Zhou, Jing

Abstract

Product returns cost retailers billions of dollars annually. We analyze return policies (RPs) with cash refunds in the presence of wardrobers. We then analyze RPs with store credit or gift cards (SC/GC) refunds. We also analyze two-option RPs in which consumers choose between cash and SC/GC refunds. We find that for cash-only RPs, the retailer uses price to attract consumers while using the refund fraction to discourage wardrobers. SC/GC can be a good alternative to cash when consumers have high valuation for SC/GC and some SC/GC are not redeemed. With high redemption rate, SC/GC can be a good alternative when consumers make hedonic purchases and the retailer has a reasonable profit margin. We also find that single-option RPs dominate two-option RPs when genuine consumers and wardrobers have the same valuation for SC/GC, and two-option RPs can dominate when the two consumer segments have heterogeneous valuation for SC/GC. When two-option RPs dominate, the retailer gives lenient SC/GC option to genuine consumers who have a high valuation for SC/GC, and uses the cash option to decrease the cost or increase the profit from wardrobers who have a low valuation for SC/GC for some ranges of problem parameters. Moreover, when consumers have continuous valuation for SC/GC, two-option RPs dominate single-option RPs in genuine-only consumer markets. With two-option RPs, the retailer uses cash to increase profit from consumers with a low valuation for SC/GC and uses SC/GC to increase profit from consumers with a high valuation for SC/GC.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Huirong & Khouja, Moutaz & Zhou, Jing, 2022. "Design of win-win return policies for online retailers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 301(2), pages 675-693.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:301:y:2022:i:2:p:675-693
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2021.11.030
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shuiwang Zhang & Qianlan Ding & Jingcheng Ding, 2023. "Return Strategy of E-Commerce Platform Based on Green and Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.
    2. Khouja, Moutaz & Hammami, Ramzi, 2023. "Optimizing price, order quantity, and return policy in the presence of consumer opportunistic behavior for online retailers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 683-703.
    3. Priya, Bhawna & Biswas, Indranil & Agrawal, Anupam, 2023. "The over-ordering problem in trade credit: Role of return policies," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 309(2), pages 731-744.
    4. Rezaei Kalantary, Mina & Hejazi, Seyed Reza & Khosroshahi, Hossein, 2023. "Pricing for different return policies in an online marketplace considering appeasement during a post-return out-of-stock," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).

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