What do consumers in the US and in the UK want?
Kelli Trapnell
·July 21, 2023
At Loop, it’s very important to us that we make our merchants—and merchants like you—successful. Every year, we survey thousands of consumers for our Consumer Report. This year, we shared important findings that you can use to optimize your post-purchase experience without compromising your budget. We specifically asked respondents in the US and the UK about what kinds of returns offerings helped convince them to make an online purchase.
Learn more about what your shoppers are looking for in their returns. Download our 2023 Consumer Report here.
In this blog, we’ll discuss our findings from our 2023 Consumer Report related to consumer preferences in the US and in the UK, including:
- What consumers in the US want
- What consumers in the UK want
- What to keep in mind when selling to both markets
What consumers in the US want
According to our most recent Consumer Report, a vast majority of US consumers want a wide variety of options for how to return their products. Almost half of all US consumers surveyed (43.2%) agreed that they’d be more likely to buy from an online retailer who offered “extensive exchange options.”
While there’s no solid consensus on which options are their favorites (more to come on this subject when we break down the generational infographic included in the 2023 Consumer Report), US consumers do place higher value on the ability to drop off their returns in store as compared to their UK counterparts. American consumers also placed value on packageless drop-off options (33.9%), the ability to keep their item and still get a refund (29.5%), and eco-friendly returns options (27.1%).
What consumers in the UK want
UK consumers surveyed as part of Loop’s 2023 Consumer Report valued an easy-to-follow returns process (65.1% of respondents) almost as much as the availability of free returns and exchanges (78.6% of respondents). After that, none of the other options came close to being a consensual priority for the group.
UK consumers seem to prefer the ability to keep an item and still get a refund (22.6%) over any other specific method of return, although at-home returns pickup (22.1%) and in-person returns options (20.7%) were the next most popular options. Where US consumers placed at least some emphasis on eco-friendly options in their returns preferences, UK consumers were less likely to be swayed by sustainable options.
What to keep in mind when selling to both markets
Despite these differences, consumers in both the US and the UK look forward to a few of the same things when it comes to their ideal returns experiences. Unsurprisingly, 79.55% of shoppers in both markets hope for free returns and exchanges, or at least some version of that offering, from their online retailers. US consumers and UK consumers also share a strong preference for an easy-to-follow returns process (63.45% of all consumers surveyed). Most notably, US consumers and UK consumers both ranked retailer-curated product suggestions based on past purchases as the offering least likely to convince them to purchase with an online retailer.
Both markets also value warranties or other product guarantees. Check out our breakdown of why you might want to offer warranties as part of your return policy.
If you sell to both the US and UK markets, it might be worth considering incorporating either or both of these options into your post-purchase experience. Perhaps you can offer free returns or exchanges on certain items for your most VIP customers in the UK or the US. Either way, if you automate your returns with Loop, you’re sure to please both US consumers and UK consumers with our streamlined, intuitive, and fun-to-use returns processing. Add in the fact that you also get a customized return portal? Perfection, no matter whether your customers live in the US or across the pond.
Give your customers their most ideal post-purchase experience, regardless of where they live. Book a demo with Loop today.
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