A number of retailers have made their return policies stricter. “Retailers examine and reevaluate their policies all the time,” says Scott Krugman, a spokesman for the National Retail Federation, a trade group. “They balance the needs of the customers and also consider whether the policy is being abused [by consumers].” Wal-Mart, for example, toughened its policy several years ago and implemented a return-tracking system that signals cashiers when customers have returned more than three items without receipts within 45 days. Managers at the retailing behemoth’s stores must approve returns signaled by the system.

After analyzing the policies of its competitors, Sears changed its return policy in late 2005 by tacking on a 15 percent restocking fee for some appliances, tools, and lawn and garden products that don’t contain all the original packaging and can’t be resold as new.

Costco, the warehouse-club giant, takes a more liberal approach to returns. The retailer claims that, with few exceptions, shoppers can return items at any time. The company even refunds shipping fees for items purchased online. Still other retailers, including Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Target, either do not require receipts or they use systems that trace purchases made with checks or credit and debit cards.

HOW TO AVOID RETURN HASSLES

Check the return policy. You’ll typically find the return policy for each retailer on signs near the checkout registers, on receipts, and on its Web site. Note the number of days you have to return items, policy exceptions, and whether restocking fees apply. If you buy and return items online, be aware that many merchants do not refund the cost of shipping, and you’ll probably have to pay the return postage. To avoid the inconvenience and cost of returning by mail, see if you can return your online purchases to a walk-in store. The chart below details this type of information.

Save the receipt. Not all retailers allow you to make returns without receipts. In some cases you’ll receive store credit, which could be based on a selling price lower than what you paid. To facilitate returns, hang onto receipts until warranties expire or for seven years if you need receipts to support tax returns.

Open with care. You might not be able to return some items, such as electronics, if you’ve opened the box and the products are not defective or if they’re not in their original packaging with all of the paperwork.

The retailer and its corporate partners, including KMart, have launched special holiday sections called “Christmas Lane” on their Web sites — sure to become a big hit with those early bird holiday shoppers who start to panic when Labor Day rolls around.

The company also has opened Christmas boutiques at hundreds of its stores, MyFOXNY.com reports , a business move that aims to court holiday customers earlier than ever and get them to take advantage of the company’s layaway offers.

The year-end holidays typically represent a giant chunk — as much as half — of retailers’ annual revenues, and every year, the start of the holiday shopping season seems to creep earlier and earlier.

Retailers suffered through a particularly weak season last year as the United States suffered through the recession. The National Retail Federation reported a dismal 2.8 percent drop in the 2008 holiday season compared to the same period a year earlier.

It remains to be seen whether the concept of Christmas shopping in July will persuade skittish consumers to open their wallets.

But even if they do decide to commit $199 to buying the GE “Energy Smart” spruce tree from KMart.com, they may be disappointed to find that particular product won’t be available until September.

Source: www.myfoxatlanta.com

According to a new report from the National Retail Federation (NRF), however, “shrinkage”  – the industry term for inventory loss due to shoplifting, employee theft, paperwork errors and supplier fraud – actually rose in 2010, to 1.58% of all retail sales, from 1.44% of all sales in 2009. In dollar terms, shrinkage cost U.S. retailers $37.1 billion in 2010, versus $33.5 billion in 2009, a 10.7% jump.

Consumers bear the brunt of this cost. “We need to be concerned,” says Richard Hollinger, a University of Florida criminologist who conducted the NRF-sponsored study. “We all pay for it. This theft amounts to an involuntary tax to compensate retailers for crimes that take place in their stores.”

So what’s causing the surge in stealing? First off, America still has a chronic unemployment problem, and as benefits run dry, people get more desperate. But Hollinger attributes a chunk of the worsening problem to more organized retail crime rings. “Shoplifting used to be an individual thing,” says Hollinger. “Now, groups are stealing in large quantities, and it’s a global enterprise.” According to another NRF survey, 94.5% of the 129 retail companies questioned say they have been victimized by organized retail crime over the past 12 months, the most in the survey’s seven-year history. Technology makes the trade more lucrative: criminals can lift items and easily move them on auction sites like EBay.

Law enforcement is keying in on the issue.  In Phoenix, for example, 36 people were arrested in February for their alleged participation in a retail crime operation. The name of the police effort: Operation Orange Crush.

America’s stores need more of these stings.