Sports Direct has launched a new partnership with automated parcel machine (APM) service provider InPost to make returns more convenient for its customers.
With Brits increasingly seeking quality and convenience, innovative solutions that put their needs first and address ecommerce pain points — from delivery to returns — are more important than ever. This partnership does just that, allowing Sports Direct’s consumers to return online purchases in seconds — all without the need of printing a label.
Sports Direct has a diverse consumer base spanning older sports fans through to families, but print-at home labels are a well-documented pain point for consumers, particularly those with busy home lives and no access to printers. In fact, almost a third (30%) of consumers do not have access to printers at home to print return labels.
With InPost Lockers, they simply scan a QR code received to their phone at their nearest locker and leave their items in one of the compartments.
Michael Rouse, CEO of InPost International commented: “Consumer expectations have changed dramatically over the last few years. Today, they expect — and even demand — convenience at every touchpoint. As such, for retailers, returns are becoming a huge part of the customer experience. Indeed, today they’re core to driving customer lifetime value. By joining forces with Sports Direct, we are supporting their ambitions to offer super convenient returns to their customers. We look forward to seeing where this partnership takes us.”
A spokesperson for Sports Direct added: “We are constantly looking for ways to improve our consumer journey and to create a seamless beginning to end product lifecycle. Our partnership with InPost will help generate a smooth process for our consumers when returning online purchases by using QR code technology.”
InPost has over 5,000 parcel lockers across the UK, which can be found in shopping centres, train stations, supermarkets, petrol forecourts, and on high streets, with the majority available 24/7.
The whole returns process takes a matter of seconds and because InPost Lockers are situated in convenient locations, consumers can benefit from “trip twinning”. This means they can return their parcels at a time and a place that suits them — be it on their morning commute, while out meeting with friends or heading to the gym.
All figures, unless otherwise indicated, are based on a survey of just over 2,000 UK adults conducted by Opinium on behalf of InPost from 25 February – 1 March 2021.
