The undated file photo shows a delivery worker moving parcels. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 25 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major online shopping malls are fiercely competing to secure regular clients by providing free and easy return services.
Shinsegae TV Shopping Inc., the home shopping arm of retail giant Shinsegae, introduced a new return service that uses convenience stores as a return channel earlier this month.
The service enables customers to return items they have purchased online to neighboring convenience stores anytime they want without the need to wait at home.
The cocmpany also launched another return service last month in which it collects items on the same day that customers apply for a return or exchange as long as the request is completed by 5 p.m.
Other retailers have also launched similar return services. CJ Olive Young, a major health and beauty store chain, expanded its ‘smart return’ service to all 500 of the company’s major stores across the country starting from last month.
The front-runner in terms of flexible return services is South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang Inc., which allows subscribers to its paid Wow membership program to return Rocket Delivery items within 30 days of the purchase date for free, regardless of the reason for the return.
The primary reason why online shopping malls are boosting convenient return services is that the level of consumer satisfaction with such services eventually leads to an increase in sales.
After staging free return events for two weeks from March 30 to April 12 at Shinsegae Department Store Mall, SSG.com saw its sales rise by 40 percent compared to a year ago.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
