Advantageous for Who? : A Study of How Delivery and Return Policies Affect Customer Perception of Multichannel Retailers

Abstract: In today’s retail landscape, the goal of retaining loyal customers is a pivotal part of success. Multichannel retailers offer an extended service package which increases the chances of totally satisfied customers, a requirement for loyalty. In 2017, 20-30 percent of all purchased e-commerce goods were returned. This aroused an interest in how consumer behaviour is influenced by a multichannel retailers’ delivery- and return policies, and so the purpose of this study was defined. The nature of the purpose directed the study to a quantitative form, where primary data was collected by conducting a survey on Lulea University of Technology (LTU) students. A requirement for the participants was to have experience in online purchasing from a multichannel retailer, such as Zara. A theoretical framework consisting of hypotheses and the main theories of the study were formed to conceptualise the potential relations. This framework was then used as a basis throughout the data analysis that made use of established measures, which were performed by means of multiple regressions and correlations on the data. The analysis revealed mixed results, some rejecting the null hypotheses and some confirming it. In other words, there exists a relation and direct link between delivery- and return policies towards brand image. This study could not prove a direct connection between delivery- and return policies towards brand loyalty, potentially due to a small sample size. A false negative also deemed the final connection between brand image and brand loyalty as inconclusive, however a larger survey sample would probably have resulted in a proven relation. This study has begun filling the gap between how delivery- and return policies influence multichannel retailers brand image and brand loyalty, an area with scarce information. The research team recommends future studies to conduct qualitative approaches to gain deeper insight into the mind of the consumer and their thoughts regarding the discussed policies. In addition, future research could view it from a company perspective to create a circumferential information stream. Most importantly, a large sample should be obtained to make sure that the relations expected to exist, can be proven.