A year ago Boozt introduced the Fair Use policy as a way to eliminate unnecessary returns and establish more sustainable business practices. By doing so we have reduced carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to 25% of the returns CO2 footprint and improved the shopping experience for our 2 million active customers.  Returns are an integral part of shopping online and we want to make it as easy as possible for our customers to return. However, Fair Use helps us have a transparent and honest dialogue with, and possibly pause, customers that repeatedly exploit our high service levels of free shipping and returns at the expense of our business, other customers and the environment. 

“It’s important for us to take action to combat this behaviour, for the benefit of both the business and the environment. It’s encouraging to see the effects of Fair Use and the positive impact it has had on our carbon footprint. Hopefully, more of our peers will find similar solutions to tackle the issue of unnecessary returns so we can establish more sustainable business practices for e-commerce” says Peter G. Jørgensen, CCO. 

With our position as one of the leading e-commerce companies in the Nordics, we have the opportunity to set standards for a more sustainable industry. Returns are not a major part of our CO2 footprint as we handle returns locally at our fulfilment centre, minimizing the need for transportation related to returns. Still, we focus much of our efforts on finding solutions to minimize the number of returns without compromising the customer experience, such as having accurate sizing recommendations driven by machine learning, detailed product descriptions and the Fair Use policy. 

Since 2019, around 13.000 customers, or 0,25% of the customer base, have been paused through the Fair Use policy. This is a small part of the around 2 million active customers on Boozt and Booztlet, yet these customers represent around 15% of our total return volume. By pausing these accounts and reducing unnecessary returns Boozt has eliminated the need for approximately 130 delivery trucks during one year and lowered the total carbon emissions by an amount equivalent to 25% of the returns CO2 footprint. 

“During the last two years, we have seen an increase of extreme return behaviour within e-commerce where customers systematically place large orders and return all or almost all items, sometimes after having worn the items. Not only does this behaviour put a strain on the environment, but it is also not fair to the other 99,8% of our customers that shop responsibly as it takes up resources and available items from our sites, lessening the overall shopping experience” says Peter G. Jørgensen, CCO. 

The vast majority of our customers shop thoughtfully and only ship goods when needed. We fully understand that a product may have a different size/fit than expected or that a customer changes their mind and therefore wants to return a purchase. But when a customer has an extreme return behaviour it is not fair to our other customers as their shopping experience is compromised - either through a lesser service, smaller selection or higher prices. 

The data shows that customers with extreme return behaviour contact customer service almost twice as much as other customers and are almost 20 times more likely to submit a quality claim on kept items. High return and claim rates mean that less seasonal items and sizes are available for customers. Eliminating unnecessary returns through Fair Use has freed up approximately 4.500 hours that customer service agents would have otherwise spent handling cases from customers with extreme return behaviour. These hours can now be spent on further improving the service to our customers.