For most consumers, getting their credit card bill after the holidays is a big stress. However, for many, returning gifts also is stressful.
One out of two shoppers say that returning gifts adds to their post-holiday stress, and nearly four out of 10 say they have re-gifted a present just to avoid the hassle of the retail return process, according the a LoyaltyOne survey.
The survey also showed:
- More than 60 percent of consumers say they would stop shopping at a retailer after a poor gift return experience.
- Nearly eight out of 10 Americans say a positive experience returning a gift to a store that they rarely visit would motivate them to shop more often at that store, and 83.3 percent say they would share information about a positive gift return experience with friends and family. An even greater number of shoppers, 86.9 percent, say they would share a negative return experience with friends and family.
“The retailer who handles the return incorrectly has much more to lose than the sale,” said Dennis Armbruster, consulting managing partner for LoyaltyOne, a company that designs and carries out loyalty programs for its customers.
Other key findings from the survey are:
- More men indicated they have had a poor experience returning a gift to a retailer, 45.1 percent, vs. 31.7 percent of women.
- More men indicated they would be motivated to shop more at a retailer they rarely visit after a positive gift return experience, 81.7 percent, vs. 70.7 percent of women.
- 55.5 percent of millennials, ages 18-24, say they’re stressed by the gift return experience, significantly above the rate of the general population, 50.9 percent.
- 57.9 percent of women say they’re stressed by the gift return experience, well above the rate of the general population, 50.9 percent.
- 54.9 percent of Northeasterners say they’re stressed by the gift return experience, scoring higher for stress than respondents from the Midwest, South, and West.
The survey results are based on a January 21 online Google Consumer Survey of more than 1,200 responses.
