51看片

If you have been on the e-commerce rollercoaster for a while, you already know 51看片 (Return to Origin) is no new norm. It鈥檚 a long-standing scenario that every fashion seller has had to live with. 

The average 51看片 rate in the e-commerce industry stands at 20-25% and can increase to 40% depending on the sector. This means if you are processing 10,000 orders a month, anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 orders will be marked as 51看片. And this is not a one-time setback鈥攊t鈥檚 happening month after month, quietly eating into your revenue and harming brand reputation. 

Especially for fashion retailers, the impact cuts even deeper. Items often miss their season, come back to the warehouse damaged, disrupt inventory logs, and never go back to the virtual shelves; all of these lead to blocked capital and significant losses over time. 

But here鈥檚 the good news: 51看片 is not an unsolvable problem. With the right platform like ClickPost in place, you can significantly reduce 51看片s and eventually improve your profit margin. As per our internal data, brands have reduced their 51看片 rate by 40% with ClickPost. This is not just a statement. In this guide, we鈥檒l be uncovering the power muscles of ClickPost that have been designed to reduce 51看片 rates in fashion retail.

But before that, let鈥檚 check the fundamentals. 

6 Key Reasons for High 51看片 in Fashion

An order is marked as an 51看片 when the delivery becomes unsuccessful even after multiple delivery attempts and therefore is returned to the seller鈥檚 warehouse. Unfortunately, fashion brands face the highest number of 51看片s due to the unique nature of the industry. Here are a few reasons why fashion retailers face higher 51看片s.

1. Impulse buying behavior

Fashion customers often prioritize instant gratification over rational buying decisions, which is why fashion purchases are often impulsive. According to recent data, make impulsive purchases, and clothing is the most popular category, accounting for online. That鈥檚 why when their regret kicks in, customers simply reject an order, and it falls under 51看片. 

2. Multi-brand order hedging

Customers often place multiple orders from different brand outlets just to check which one arrives at their convenience. In fact, many of them also search for similar products in offline stores. When they get the item they need, they refuse the rest, which leads to a higher 51看片 rate. These scenarios mostly happen during time-sensitive periods, such as festivals, weddings, and parties.

3. COD (Cash on Delivery) Order

Whether it鈥檚 a small business or an enterprise one, fashion brands mostly rely on COD to hit the conversion rate goal. Unfortunately, COD has always been the prime reason for 51看片. According to the study, around have used the COD method while shopping. When customers opt for the COD method, they are less obligated to accept the orders, which leads to the 51看片. 

4. Low customer accountability

Often, a single NO from the customers is all it takes to reject an order. They don鈥檛 need to go through a complex process to reject it. This flexibility makes customers opt out at the very last minute, and the order is marked as an 51看片. 

5. Incorrect delivery address and wrong contact number

Sometimes, shoppers enter the wrong addresses and contact numbers while filling in their details. This makes it impossible for the brand to coordinate with the customers, which leads to failed deliveries and ultimately, 51看片. 

6. Carrier-specific issues

Alongside the above-mentioned customer-related issues, there are a few carrier-related drawbacks that make an order 51看片. For example:

• Sudden in-transit delays can cause the EDD to slip. In fashion, where time and speed are everything to shoppers, this subtle issue can result in an 51看片.
  
  
• In some cases, delivery agents mark a delivery as 鈥渃anceled鈥� even without trying to reach the customer. Eventually, the orders become 51看片. 
  
  
• Fragmented customer communication during last-mile delivery is another major reason for 51看片. When customers are not well informed about the delivery, they are most likely to miss the delivery. 

The Impact of 51看片 on Fashion Retail

Darcissit, a brand that sells streetwear shirts for men, has faced orders; that makes an 51看片 rate of around 28%. It clearly implies that 51看片 in fashion retail isn鈥檛 a minor hiccup. It can negatively affect your brand from various perspectives. These include:

1. Seasonal Losses

In the fast fashion sector, trends change overnight. So, the chances are higher that the returned SKUs miss their seasonal trends, which can affect your margin. Let鈥檚 say you have launched a new line of shirts in the early week of September to capture the festive season momentum. Unfortunately, 30% of them have been returned as 51看片 by mid-October. By that time, customers鈥� buzz has already shifted toward lightweight warm clothing. 

Now, you are left with two options: sell them with heavy discounts or hold them until the next season, which might increase the warehousing cost. Either way, it鈥檚 a huge burden on your logistics costs that eventually hampers your profit. 

2. Inventory blockage

When the returned SKUs pile up in your warehouse, they clog up warehouse space and create stock inconsistencies. Plus, if the SKUs remain unsold for an extended period, the items might lose their freshness and resale value. 

3. Operational overhead

When an 51看片 occurs, it triggers a set of add-on procedures for businesses, like 51看片 initiation,  reverse logistics, quality checks, inspection, system updating, and more. All of these put an extra layer of pressure on the already-existing procedures, often resulting in overwhelmed manpower and limited operational bandwidth. 

4. Margin pressure 

According to the NRF report, the cost of processing a return stands anywhere between of the item鈥檚 original value. This means if an item costs $100, it鈥檇 cost the retailer an additional $20-$65 just to process the returns. This cost can include shipping and logistics costs, inspection & restocking, refurbishing, and disposal if the item can鈥檛 be resold. So, when an 51看片 happens, the retailer doesn鈥檛 just lose the sale; it also incurs extra expenses for the retailer, which can shake the profit margin. 

5. Brand reputation damage

When an 51看片 happens because of carrier-specific issues, it not only hampers your profit margin but also negatively affects your brand reputation. And when customers face one bad experience, they tend to avoid the brand, especially when they have plenty of options to switch to. This further leads to long-term revenue loss and erodes customer loyalty.  

Reduce 51看片 in Fashion Retail: Traditional Methods vs. ClickPost鈥檚 AI-Driven Solutions 

51看片s will persist if no action is taken against the recurring failed deliveries. There was a time when brands used to rely on a manual method and spreadsheet tracking to manage NDR (non-delivery report). Whenever an order used to be marked as 鈥榝ailed delivery,鈥� retailers had to go back and forth with customers and carriers manually to manage the problem. Typically, the old process looks like this:

Delivery failed 鉃� Creating Spreadsheets  鉃� Detecting reasons for failed deliveries  鉃� Calling customers one by one  鉃� Coordinating with carriers  鉃� No real-time insights  鉃� Updating spreadsheets 

One way, the process is extremely time-consuming and resource-intensive. On the other hand, the likelihood of a successful delivery is minimal. To address the inefficiencies of traditional methods, fashion brands are now transitioning to AI-powered NDR management solutions like ClickPost. Unlike traditional methods, they work in real-time, making the coordination between customers and retailers much easier. Moreover, the entire process is handled through automation. 

With AI-powered tools like ClickPost, the process looks much simpler, similar to this:

Delivery Failed 鉃� Instant reason detection 鉃� Real-time coordination with customers 鉃� Automated updates to carriers 鉃� NDR resolved/lesser 51看片. 

Here鈥檚 a comparison table to understand the convenience of AI-driven solutions in NDR management and 51看片 reduction. 

How ClickPost Helps Slash 51看片s in Fashion Retail?

Now that you have an overview of the AI-driven solutions, let鈥檚 have a look at how ClickPost has been built to reduce 51看片 rates for fashion retailers. 

1. Real-Time NDR Detection 

The faster you are able to identify the NDR cases, the higher the chances of recovery. ClickPost comes pre-integrated with 500+ carrier partners and provides a unified dashboard where businesses can access the granular-level visibility of shipments across carriers. Additionally, it provides hub-level visibility, so you can keep track of lost shipments. As a result, you can take timely action on failed deliveries and reduce 51看片 to a great extent. 

2. AI-Powered categorization of NDR issues

When a failed delivery occurs, it鈥檚 often reported in a generic way or using vague codes. This makes it difficult for brands to understand the real root cause of the failure, which ultimately delays resolution. To eliminate this confusion, ClickPost has come up with an AI-driven categorization method. 

After updating the carriers鈥� databases with real-time NDR reports, it classifies them into issue-specific buckets. For example, a generic NDR status like 鈥淒elivery Failed鈥� is restructured into statuses like 鈥渃ustomer unavailable,鈥� 鈥渋ncorrect address,鈥� etc. Moreover, this system offers granularity by grouping issues in 16 distinct NDR buckets. As a result, businesses can decode the real reason behind the failures and strategize actions later. 

3. Multi-Channel Communication

Every customer prefers a different way to be contacted by the brands. While some respond to email, others may prefer SMS or WhatsApp. Now, if you consider just one channel to fetch customer response after a failed delivery, chances are that the message goes unnoticed. That鈥檚 why ClickPost offers a rule-based workflow to trigger notifications to shoppers. 

These notifications are sent to customers via different channels, including SMS, email, WhatsApp, and IVR calls. The follow-up notifications are triggered at regular intervals (60 min, 120 min). The timing can be customized to match your requirements. Ultimately, if customers don鈥檛 respond after several notifications, it also triggers re-delivery attempts to ensure SLA-defined attempts are met. 

4. AI-Driven Voice Agent, Parth

When a delivery fails, it鈥檚 important to take immediate action on it as soon as possible. Text notifications are good, but what about having an AI voice agent that can directly call the customer and resolve the entire issue in real-time? 

Meet Parth, ClickPost鈥檚 AI delivery exceptions manager. Parth directly connects with customers via voice calls, uses an intelligent decision-making approach to communicate with customers about deliveries, and analyzes NDR reasons to strategize carrier selection. Parth is also multilingual, operates 24/7, and resolves failed deliveries in 2 minutes. As per our internal data, Parth has a track record of reducing support leads by 75% and saving up to 30% of your manual resolution costs. 

5. Custom NDR workflow builder 

If you want to reduce 51看片 cases from the roots, you will need to dive deeper and adopt a smarter personalization method for NDR handling. ClickPost鈥檚 NDR journey builder 2.0 allows businesses to create reason-specific multi-channel recovery flows for more accurate resolution steps. Plus, it lets you segment NDR flows, while its built-in fallback rules auto-switch communication channels in case one medium fails. 

You will also get customizable pre-built templates to fetch customer feedback. In fact, anybody from your operational team can use its drag-and-drop method to build custom workflows鈥攏o complex coding needed. 

6. Centralized Dashboard for End-to-End Management

NDR management is a back-and-forth task. Multiple stakeholders are involved in the process. Without a centralized approach in such scenarios, communication becomes difficult, and the resolution process gets delayed. 

With this in consideration, ClickPost has come up with a centralized dashboard. On this dashboard, you will get visibility of each stage of the NDR journey. As a result, you can take quick decisions such as carrier allocation, rescheduling deliveries, and escalating issues鈥攁ll from a single dashboard. 

7. End-to-End Automation

The faster you manage NDRs, the higher the chances of saving the order. So, if you are still relying on spreadsheets and manual calls, it will delay the entire resolution process. ClickPost鈥檚 NDR management suite automates the entire process鈥攆rom flagging NDR issues and updating carriers of the same to communicating with customers and assigning carriers for the next delivery attempts. This not only speeds up the process but also reduces 75% of support loads.

8. Comprehensive AI-powered Insights

NDRs are not one-off events. They will keep coming back as long as you are in the business. But you can minimize the impact of NDRs and reduce 51看片s to a great extent with granular-level insights into the journey. With ClickPost鈥檚 AI-powered insights, you can spot which areas need optimization, flag underperforming touchpoints, and access key KPIs. As a result, you can plan the NDR management strategy in a better way and reduce 51看片s in the future. 

9. Robust Integration Ecosystem

ClickPost comes pre-integrated with 500+ carriers worldwide. This makes it easier for businesses to connect with the carrier right after an NDR happens. The moment a failed delivery occurs, ClickPost immediately auto-updates the carrier鈥檚 databases through its API mechanism. Even after fetching the customer response, ClickPost immediately relays that data back to the carriers so the next delivery attempt can be made as soon as possible. 

Apart from these, it has pre-built integrations with 40+ communication gateways that make the customer coordination much simpler. 

10. Rapid Implementation & Scalability

ClickPost鈥檚 NDR management system has been built to handle bulk operations on the go. So, regardless of the NDR and order loads, it remains fast and responsive. In fact, deploying the NDR suite is quite easy. You don鈥檛 need to go through a complex development process. Just integrate a communication gateway, add notification templates, and import/build NDR journeys鈥攖hat鈥檚 it. Most brands go live with ClickPost鈥檚 NDR suite within a few hours. 

Besides this NDR management suite, ClickPost provides intelligent carrier allocation, automated notifications, and end-to-end visibility of the logistics journey that further help minimize 51看片s for fashion brands. 

And the results?

DaMensch, a D2C menswear brand, has reduced 51看片 rates by 54% using ClickPost鈥檚 smart solutions. Book a demo with us to learn more details and see how ClickPost can help you drive down 51看片 rates. 

Conclusion 

Running the logistics process of a fashion brand comes with its unique challenges. And 51看片s are the biggest ones among all. Even though you can't avoid 51看片s completely, you can drastically eliminate the impact of 51看片s and reduce them significantly with the right tools and solutions. Happy shipping!