Full disclosure: I’ve had something of a bee in my bonnet about free shipping for returns for some time. Amid the debate about free outbound shipping offers in recent holiday seasons, I’ve wondered aloud (even in this blog forum) why free shipping offers have to be solely a matter of “with –“ or “without conditions”. As the folks at Zappos and select other retailers have showed us for some time now, free returns shipping offers resonate well with customers, so why have we not seen more of this shipping promotion alternative?

Earlier this fall, we explored supply and demand for free returns shipping as part of the eHoliday ’09 pre-holiday survey. We asked consumers, “When choosing to make holiday purchases from a given online retailer, what is most important to you?” I noted in an earlier Holiday ’09 blog post that over half of consumers noted that free shipping for returns was “very important” to them, and another third said it was “somewhat important”. However, when we asked retailers, “Since last holiday season, have you added or improved any of the following promotions that you feel will drive improved holiday sales this year?” over two-thirds of retailers surveyed noted that they simply don’t offer free returns shipping at all.

To be fair, consumers still value other offers more. And, given different objectives in mind, perhaps it is not all that surprising that retailers and consumers are somewhat at odds over which promotions are “right”.  We asked consumers, “Which 5 of the following types of promotions would you most like to use when shopping online?” and also asked retailers: “From the list below, please indicate which 3 promotions you plan to emphasize most heavily during Holiday Season ‘09.”  Here’s what we found:

• Four out of five consumers want to see offers free standard shipping with NO conditions this holiday season.  Not surprisingly, less than one in ten of retailers surveyed plan to emphasize this offer heavily. 
• About half of consumers surveyed want to see coupons (whether for % off or $ off) but less than a quarter of retailers surveyed plan to heavily emphasize % off coupons, and just one in ten will do so for $ off. 
• One quarter of consumers want offers centered on free returns shipping, but almost no retailers we surveyed won’t emphasize this offer. 
• Consumers were fairly cool towards offers of free shipping with conditions.  Half of retailers surveyed will be heavily emphasizing this type of promotion. 

On the one hand, clearly consumers want to save money on “extras” such as shipping (as consumers ourselves, don’t we all). On the other hand, as we all know, shipping is a very real cost for retailers that has to be managed carefully to prevent jeopardizing profitability. So – what are your thoughts? Is free shipping for returns a viable alternative to free outbound shipping offers – could one offer some of both (outbound and return) shipping offers to mitigate costs while also making customers happier? I look forward to your thoughts. (As always, Shop.org Members can download the full results of the eHoliday ’09 pre-holiday survey.)