Does a Multi-Channel Return Policy Affect Online Purchase Intention?

Abstract

Due to the rapid growth of e-commerce, many traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers are today employing multi-channel retailing strategies. A multichannel retailing strategy is becoming popular as it can enhance consumers’ shopping experience by offering consumers the options of searching for product information, buying products, and returning products either offline or online. However, a multichannel retailing strategy does not necessarily imply the integration of all steps in the shopping process. One interesting difference across multichannel retailers is how the return process is handled. Previous research has shown that some return policies may affect purchase intentions. There is no research to date that specifically investigates the effect of the nature of the multichannel return policy on online purchase intentions. However, since a generous return policy increases costs, it is important to investigate to what extent it may also increase revenues by increasing purchase rates. Such knowledge could help multichannel retailers to better design and manage their return policy. The objective of this paper is to propose a study of the influence of offering a multichannel return policy on online purchase intentions. Additionally, we propose the investigation of the roles of the three potential moderators: level of online purchasing experience (extensive vs. limited), product type (search vs. experience), and brand familiarity.