Considerable research on merchandise returns has looked at marketing elements of the sales process (e.g., product display) and how they influence returns. However, marketing and order fulfillment processes are temporally decoupled in remote purchase situations such as online retail. While both are intricate parts of the overall sales transaction, it is logical to believe that elements of order fulfillment may also be influential in explaining and controlling merchandise return. This study focuses on the packaging aspect of the order fulfillment process to explore how it may influence return incidents in online retail. Following insights from Signaling Theory, we propose that a product's package is a signal that communicates valuable information about the product to the buyer. We partner with an online retailer to study the outcome of a natural experiment involving product packaging during order fulfillment. Our results show that packaging influences returns, reducing them most significantly if the signaling is consistent across packaging levels.

中文翻译：

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关于在线零售中的包装和产品退货——邮寄信箱还是发送信号？

对商品退货的大量研究着眼于销售过程的营销要素（例如，产品展示）以及它们如何影响退货。但是，营销和订单履行流程在远程购买情况（例如在线零售）中暂时分离。虽然两者都是整个销售交易的复杂部分，但相信订单履行的要素也可能对解释和控制商品退货产生影响是合乎逻辑的。本研究侧重于订单履行流程的包装方面，以探讨它如何影响在线零售中的退货事件。根据信号理论的见解，我们建议产品的包装是一种信号，可将有关产品的有价值信息传达给买方。我们与一家在线零售商合作，研究在订单履行过程中涉及产品包装的自然实验的结果。我们的结果表明，包装会影响退货，如果信号在不同包装级别上保持一致，则退货减少最为显着。