| A customer orders fresh food with her mobile phone in Seoul in this 2020 file photo. Korea Times file |
By Kim Jae-heun
Online retailers are adopting refund policies for their products sold on the internet to attract customers amid the record-high inflation. This sort of marketing strategy is often offered by companies when the cost of living rises rapidly or during an economic recession.
SSG.com, an e-commerce affiliate of Shinsegae, said Tuesday it will expand its refund policy nationwide for all the fresh food it sells on its online grocery platform. The company has only been providing the service in the capital since March 2019.
Customers who are not satisfied with any fresh food that has a refundable tag on it can ask to exchange the item or for a refund. SSG.com has simplified its refund procedures, only requiring customers to take a photo of their purchased product and submit it online.
“Often, there is a stereotype among shoppers that they need to buy fruit and vegetables after checking their condition with their own eyes at a store. To break this expectation, we have come up with a refund marketing strategy to let customers judge the products after they are delivered. This is how confident we are with our items' quality,” an SSG.com official said.
In fact, SSG.com's refund policy has increased the repurchase rate to 80 percent for the period between July of last year to June of this year.
GS Retail has gone further, paying back 10 percent more than the original price of its fresh food items sold on GS Fresh Mall, the company's online grocery store. The retailer will give a 100-percent refund upon customer request and an additional 10 percent in compensation with an e-coupon that can be used for online purchases.
“Giving back 110 percent of the purchase price is the largest compensation deal offered by any retailer in the local market currently,” a GS Retail official said.
Lotte Shopping is now also taking back products or offering refunds to its online customers. The targeted items are vegetables, fresh meats and fruit sold through the company's online mall Lotte On.
“We have introduced this policy to give recognition to customers that our products are fresh and that people can trust their quality when making online purchases,” a Lotte Shopping official said.