Products ordered online have been returned more than once by 58% of Poles, according to Santander Consumer Bank’s study “Poles’ Own Wallet: e-commerce trends 2023”. Moreover, three-quarters of people in this group have returned goods ordered online within the last year. Less frequently, respondents declared that they had decided to return products ordered from e-commerce a dozen (8%) and several dozen times (4%).
“Perhaps surprisingly for some, many Poles buying online have not yet had a situation where they decided to return a product ordered from an online shop. 23% of respondents answered this way. This group included the largest number of seniors aged 60 and over, men and respondents with primary education. In addition, 12% of Poles buying online have returned a product purchased online only once,” said Santander Consumer Bank’s online sales director Ewelina Krzynowy-Gaweł.
The results of the survey show that the most common motivator for returning an item is its wrong size or dimensions (64%). One in four respondents in this group cited unsatisfactory quality of the item ordered (28%). A similar percentage mentioned product damage (27%). On the other hand, a further 21% and 18% of respondents in this group returned a product purchased online because its appearance differed from what could be seen on the shop’s website or did not match the description. In addition to this, when asked the reason for returning an item, respondents indicated that its performance differed from that expected (15%) or that the purchase was ill-considered (11%), it was highlighted.
Respondents who said they had returned a product bought online more than once in their lifetime, and those who had never sent anything back to an e-store, were asked whether they had left themselves an unsatisfactory product from an e-store during the current year. 57% of respondents answered ‘no’. One in three respondents in this group happened to leave a product bought online during the current year even though they were not satisfied with it (34%). The most common reasons for this indicated by this percentage of respondents were lack of time or desire to complete the formalities of returning a product and the desire to sell or give the ill-fated purchase to someone else.
The survey was carried out on behalf of Santander Consumer Bank – a credit bank – by means of standardised computer-assisted telephone questionnaire interviews (CATI) conducted by the Institute for Market and Social Research (IBRiS) in late September/early October 2023. A representative group of adult Poles buying online took part in the survey. Sample n = 1000.
Source: Santander CB and ISBnews
