Retailers that make it harder to return stuff face backlash from their customers

Shoppers line up with returns and exchanges at L.L. Bean in Freeport, Maine, on Dec. 26, 2010. Jill Brady/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images by Huseyn Abdulla, University of Tennessee In 2018, L.L. Bean ended its century-old “lifetime” return policy, limiting returns to one year after purchase and requiring receipts. The demise of this popular policy sparked backlash, with several customers filing lawsuits. It also inspired my team of operations management researchers to study how customers respond when retailers make their return policies more strict. Our key finding: Whether they often or rarely return products they’ve purchased, consumers object – unless those retailers explain why. I work with a group of researchers examining product return policies and how they affect consumers and retailers. As we explained in an article published in the Journal of Operations Management, we designed experiments to study whether and why return policy restrictions irk customers. We also wanted to understand what retailers can do to minimize backlash after making it harder for customers to return stuff. We conducted three experiments in which we presented scenarios to 1,500 U.S. consumers who played the role of loyal customers of a fictional retailer. We examined their reactions to the...