Why Fast Fashion Retailers Need a Seamless Returns Process

The fast fashion industry designs and creates clothing that imitates trends lasting 4 to 6 weeks. Popular fast fashion retailers include SHEIN, ASOS, Fashion Nova, and PrettyLittleThing; with H&M and ZARA currently vying for the top position as market leader.

Statista revealed the fast fashion industry was worth £83 billion in 2022, and it’s expected to reach £145 billion by 2027. The popularity and growth of the fast fashion market is due to:

Fashionable clothing consumers can afford

Low production costs allow retailers to sell on-trend clothing at affordable prices to customers with different income levels.

Cultivating an inclusive industry, where anyone can express their style and individuality through affordable clothing. For the younger generation that are just starting to find entry level jobs, or maybe not at all whilst studying at University, affordability is perhaps the defining factor for their wardrobe choices.

Extensive variety of clothing to choose from

Responding swiftly to emerging trends, fast fashion retailers monitor runways, influencers, and celebrities to design replica clothing.

With a plethora of clothes designed and produced weekly, consumers can constantly satisfy their appetite for new novelty outfits. For individuals that have many events to attend or simply like the ‘going out’ culture, fast fashion it the obvious choice. In fact, 41% of women ages 18-25 felt pressure to wear a different outfit every time they went out when asked in a 2017 poll. That sort of wardrobe flexibility and originality will require fast fashion shopping.

Fast fashion for instant gratification

Speedy production cycles allow clothes to move quickly between design, production, and shelves. Allowing consumers to source, choose, and buy fashion pieces in record time for instant gratification.

Fast fashion’s quick cycles means that loyal consumers can check back on their favourite website and see a whole new catalogue mere weeks after they last visited.

To summarise, fast fashion is affordable for all pockets. Meaning fashion retailers have a bigger market to cater to and more sales to make.

Moreover, with the constant variety, customers are always entertained with new trends and styles to try on.

Fashion is not just about creating beautiful clothes, it’s about creating a better world. – Orsola de Castro, Co-Founder of Fashion Revolution and Designer

And the speediness of the industry to create, supply, and deliver trendy clothing is a big draw, particularly in a society where consumers expect items that are in-demand, to be available on-demand. However, the fast fashion industry also has its challenges which are detailed below.

Fast Fashion Retailer Challenges

Production in a timely fashion

It’s a race against the clock for retailers to design, produce, and deliver fashionable clothing quickly and consistently to consumers before the next fashion trends emerge.

As such, the pressure is on for retailers to adhere to a strict production and delivery schedule. Ensuring the supply chain is running smoothly is imperative to avoiding delays. Retailers that don’t manage each part of the process efficiently risk items missing their sales window, or arrive late to the fashion trend resulting in returns heading back to the retailer after the quick season has ended.

Predicting demand for fashionable clothing

Before clothing designs move to the production line, retailers need to estimate and request items they’re certain will sell.

Underestimating the popularity of a clothing trend could mean a company buys less stock than needed and misses out on potential sales. Out of stock signs also negatively impact the reputation of their brand in the mind of their customers. There’s nothing more frustrating for online shoppers than falling in love with an item online only to realise their size is unavailable.

Alternatively, overestimating the popularity of a clothing trend and buying too many items could leave retailers with a surplus of stock they need to sell, store, or give away to charity.

Fast fashion's impact on the environment

From finding ethically sourced materials and manufacturer, to effectively handling returned, and damaged stock, in favour of recycling and repurposing goods. Fashion retailers must be mindful of the impact their business has on the environment.

Generally retailers often strive to make a conscious effort to reduce their carbon footprint for the greater good. But with the fast fashion supply chain expedited, on-demand fashion retailers must operate on a much large scale and in a quicker timeframe.

With customers and legal initiatives steering businesses into greener friendly practices. Reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion is an ongoing challenge for fashion retailers.

Sustainability is not an end goal, it’s a journey. – Eileen Fisher, Founder and Chairwoman

The importance of a returns solution for fast fashion retailers

A returns system can make or break a fast fashion retailer's business.

From choosing a fair policy that honours loyal customers and legal requirements. To making one strict enough to deter fraudulent shoppers or those who game the system, for example customers who indulge in wardrobing (buying items to wear, and then return).

There are lots of decisions to be made when creating a returns policy that works well for consumers and businesses. Creating, tracking, and continuously improving a returns process is necessary for retailers to keep customers happy, and profits booming.

The returns process has a large impact on how customers view a company. With a quick, easy-to-use returns process swaying individuals to buy from a business again and again. The opposite, such as a slow, non-responsive returns process, could mean consumers avoid a business altogether.

A survey by ZigZag revealed that consumers said they were most likely to return fast fashion items, with nearly half saying they had in the last 6 months. It was higher than the second most popular response, luxury fashion, by 20%pt.

With the fashion industry dealing with the bulk of returns when you look across e-commerce as a whole, the industry has to pay special attention to their resources and time effectively to maintain a seamless returns service for all.  

Businesses can begin maintaining relationships with customers by offering fair returns policies and returns software by ZigZag that’s simple and fast to use.

Return Issues for Fast Fashion Retailers

Speed of getting returns back from the customer

Goods can get stuck in a returns loop, which for items that only have 4-6 weeks to sell before new trends emerge, means stock may never be resold.

With some retailers such as IKEA and Nordstrom, offering long to unlimited returns periods, this can impact sales and profit.

While ZigZag typically recommends longer return periods to portray a customer-centric approach to business to its shoppers, this is not advised for items with short seasons. Instead, in the case of fast fashion, it’s understandable to give shorter time frames, to avoid items missing their sales window.

But, it’s also important to note, shoppers still have rights under the consumer rights act 2015 and consumer contracts regulations, which means customers must be allowed a minimum returns window to send items back.  In law, and in business, the returns experience is crucial to get right for fast fashion retailers as it could mean the difference between whether a consumer will use your business again or not.

The Solution: Get returns back as fast as possible to sell goods in the time intended. For instance, companies can send reminders to customers who have started the returns process prompting them to deliver goods back for a refund.

Speed of getting returns back through the supply chain

Bad carriers, strikes, or weather can cause hold-ups in the returns system, causing goods to get stuck in the supply chain.

According to ZigZag’s 2023 research into the e-commerce and returns experience, just 7% of shoppers claimed they have never had a delivery delay with an online purchase, and 12% state it happens often.

The Solution: Monitor carrier performance through a Returns Reporting Hub to record returns and work out any bottlenecks by investigating issues. Some of ZigZag’s retailers have used data analysis to spot poorly performing carrier services in certain areas and notify the service before it translated to lost sales.

Additionally, an online returns portal provides warehouse teams with more information on returns, such as when to expect them, where to expect them, and why they are coming back. Allowing warehouse management to plan staffing levels around predict returns influxes as well as providing them with information on where to redirect goods to, such as local stores and marketplaces.

Returns caused by quality issues

Fast fashion items that are made with lower-quality materials and manufacturing techniques may not meet customer expectations, thus returns are a real possibility. Indeed, around a third of surveyed consumers reported sending goods back due to the item not matching the description.

The Solution: Provide better product descriptions and photos on the website and encourage customers to write reviews that reflect the realistic fit and colour of clothing.

Giving people more information at the point of purchase allows customers to make informed buying decisions and reduces the likelihood of returns.

Moreover, handling damaged items by discounting or sending them to a repair partner to clean and fix garments, is an eco-friendly way to resell goods.

Equally, tracking returns data, via a Return Reporting Hub from ZigZag, allows businesses to identify problems with batches that may need reporting back to the factory that made them. To help avoid quality issues and more returns.

Missing a sales window

As mentioned above, missing their optimum sale window is fairly common with fast fashion items. With trends over before they really begun, it's understandable if too many designs are ordered and demand isn't met.

The Solution: There are a few options retailers have when goods have missed their sales window. They can store goods and temporarily remove inventory from the website until the next sales window appears. For example, Christmas jumpers can be packed away and reintroduced next Christmas. They could also donate the goods to charity or send them to be a partner to be recycled.

Otherwise, retailers can utilise online marketing places like eBay and Amazon to advertise and distribute items faster. This is the ideal approach for retailers looking to increase their top-line revenue and contribute to the circular economy.  

High cost of returns

Returns are costly for retailers. They eat away at a company's profits, particularly as fast fashion often has to use express delivery solutions to get goods back as quickly as possible to clean up and resell.

The Solution: Source and screen a variety of carriers for your business and keep a watch over which carriers are both cost-effective and efficient. Review carriers regularly to adopt newer better alternatives and to lose those that are overpriced.

As a solution, fashion retailers can partner with ZigZag for competitive carrier rates or otherwise store and resell locally to lessen the delivery costs.

Or where the cost of the return outweighs the value of the product to be returned, suggest customers keep and donate the product. But be mindful of this option. Disingenuous customers may abuse the system, and initiate returns for refunds, to keep items for free. As such, consider offering this solution to VIP members, or those with a track record of purchasing and keeping products.

The returns process comes with hurdles businesses have to jump to cut costs and increase brand loyalty. The problems and solutions above are just a few ways companies can do this.

How ZigZag can help

ZigZag is a supportive returns partner that enables fast fashion retailers to juggle the balancing act of:

• Exceeding customer expectations
• Managing return costs effectively
• Reducing damage to the environment

With the option of a personalised online returns portal for customers to log in to and specify their reasons for return. A long list of carrier options for customers to choose from. And step-by-step instructions on returning a parcel – ZigZag’s portal takes away the hard work from businesses initiating and organising returns.

Equally with data collected from customers placing returns, companies can detect returns issues early and handle them promptly.

For example, whether addressing a carrier that is yet to return damaged goods. Or detecting a customer that's repeatedly sending back returns which is costing a business a lot of time and money. Fashion retailers can quickly identify obstacles in the returns journey, and fix them to save money, and improve the processes efficiency.

Loyal customers give fast fashion retail businesses the ability to thrive. With large volumes of sales needed to cover and exceed the costs spent purchasing and delivering items. It’s essential for retailers to build a lasting relationship with customers that will hopefully repeat new clothes orders in the future.

By providing a seamless returns process with an all-in-one ZigZag returns portal, customers can complete returns quickly and easily. Leading to happy, repeat customers in the future.

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