While many consumers are doom scrolling to cope with emotional stress caused by increased cost of living, others are working the system.
In fact, consumers are proving more creative than ever in an effort to save costs amid ongoing economic turmoil. Focus has been largely placed on researching deals and shifting budget allocation across categories during peak holiday shopping, but as today’s resilient consumer takes on high stakes of holiday pressure every dollar counts meaning forgoing purchasing from retailers that do not meet criteria including free shipping or returns.
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In a recent consumer study conducted by Trustpilot, the online review platform, the company looked into the U.S. adult consumers’ current sentiment around refunds and returns, finding impacts on consumer behavior and the loopholes that shoppers will take advantage of when trying to save money.
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One popular loophole, said the company, is the act of spending more to hit the total spend to qualify for free shipping with 40 percent of survey respondents admitting they have done so. Notably, the average extra spend is $34.88.
The buy more to save on shipping trend is something that 25 percent said they “always” do while intending to return the “extras.” An additional 36 percent said they “often” do this. Only 6 percent of respondents said they “never” do this. At the same time, the report found that nearly half of respondents will not shop from a retailer that does not offer free returns, a result that the researchers say is “likely because they are planning to return items they never intended to purchase.”
According to the report, the trend is being largely driven by younger generations with 97 percent of Gen Z consumers and 95 percent of Millennials admitting they do this. Looking across its reviews data, Trustpilot’s researchers found the top five categories in which consumers mention refunds or returns during the first three quarters of 2023 to be: shopping and fashion, travel and vacation, money and insurance, vehicles and transportation, and electronics and technology.
“Free shipping and returns continue to be a priority for consumers, yet the retail industry has drastically shifted over the past year, leaving customers frustrated with the addition of charges during a time when, economically, they simply can’t afford it,” said Vincent Petrillo, vice president, commercial for North America at Trustpilot. “With 77 percent of Americans stating that a retailer’s returns policy has an influence on how trustworthy they perceive that retailer to be, it’s more important than ever for retailers to put transparency at the forefront of their returns strategy, especially during such a high-stress buying season.”
Other creative means of saving money unveiled more infractions from consumers. Trustpilot’s survey revealed that 49 percent of consumers have or will “lie to customer service about not receiving an entire package, so a second one ships free of charge.” Similarly, 45 percent admitted to “lying to a retailer that an order has a missing item to get a second one for free” and 42 percent will “try to return a product [they] damaged but tell the retailer it arrived that way.” Thirty-seven percent will fake an illness or death to get a return extension. Additionally, 44 percent will tell a credit card company that a purchase they made is fraudulent.
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