Product returns will soon cost firms a trillion dollars annually; e-commerce appears more at risk for these costs relative to offline channels. Retailers thus need strategic insights into which factors increase customers’ return propensity and when the short-term costs of returns might be offset by future customer purchases. This article reports two studies that use transaction data from two large apparel e-tailers. Study 1 demonstrates that due to the differences between mobile and traditional online channels, consumers form a larger consideration set when they shop through mobile channels, and this distinctive search practice spills over onto return rates. That is, return rates are lower in mobile channels, and the use of the mobile channel also alters the effect of discount promotions. The findings in Study 2 suggest that future purchases by consumers, after a return, are contingent on category characteristics. In categories in which customers can easily learn from their previous return experience, product returns positively increase future spending, but the opposite is true in categories in which it is difficult to learn.

产品退货将很快使公司每年损失一万亿美元；与线下渠道相比，电子商务在这些成本方面的风险似乎更大。因此，零售商需要从战略上了解哪些因素会增加客户的退货倾向，以及退货的短期成本何时可能被未来的客户购买所抵消。本文报告了两项使用来自两家大型服装电子零售商的交易数据的研究。研究 1 表明，由于移动渠道和传统在线渠道之间的差异，消费者在通过移动渠道购物时形成了更大的考虑因素，这种独特的搜索实践会影响退货率。也就是说，移动渠道的退货率较低，移动渠道的使用也改变了折扣促销的效果。研究 2 中的结果表明，消费者在退货后的未来购买取决于品类特征。在客户可以从之前的退货体验中轻松学习的类别中，产品退货会积极增加未来的支出，但在难以学习的类别中则相反。