Made to last

That's the sound of me lying on the floor of my dining room.I'm fighting with a giant metal cabinet that the girlfriend now uses to store her baking tools.We have two of them, but we only paid for one of them.The first one was defective.We asked for a replacement part.Instead, they sent us a whole new cabinet.And the company said, keep the old one.According to Reuters, this is happening more.Americans are expected to return more than $170 billion of goods this year, and nearly 60% of retailers have return lists or keep it policies for products whose returns cost more than their value.And according to one of my favorite substacks, Demography Unplugged, returns have increased due to online shopping.Demography UnpluggedNew Retail Policy: Keep Your Returns This holiday season, many retailers have adopted a “keep it” return policy. Instead of giving back unwanted merchandise, customers can keep the items free of charge. —Reuters…Read more4 days ago · 3 likes · Demography UnpluggedCustomers often change their minds when they see their items in person.And honestly, who hasn't done that?I've done that.The average return costs retailers about $30.Many stores believe that time and the cost of processing these returns aren't worth the effort.Nor are most of the things we buy.It feels like there was some sort of secret meeting convened where the powers that be decided that most of the furniture and electronics that we buy will be more cumbersome and harder to put together.That they'd stop working sooner.That these items won't be worth our time.I hope this cabinet proves me wrong.The Holiday eCommerce Returns Surge: Unwrapping Strategies for Retailers in 2023https://www.gotrg.com/post/the-holiday-ecommerce-returns-surge-unwrapping-strategies-for-retailers-in-2023Let me know what you think in the comments at jamesbrowntv.substack.comEmail: [email protected] me a voicemail or text: 585-484-0339Follow me on social media:YouTube Main Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCixNKcH6SP5OCLHMdQ_gVTwInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesbrowntv/Facebook: https://facebook.com/jamesbrowntvTwitter: https://twitter.com/jamesbrowntvThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy