The faster, the better? The impact of short delivery times on product returns in online retailing
研究利用全球时尚零售商美国电商平台的大数据，发现短配送时间反而显著增加退货可能性，尤其对新顾客，挑战了配送越快越好的传统观念。
This study explores the impact of short delivery times on product returns in the context of online retailing. Using a large dataset from a global fashion retailer's U.S. e-commerce platform, we investigate whether fast deliveries characterized by below-average delivery times influence the likelihood of product returns. The analysis employs logistic regression to examine the relationship between delivery times and return rates, and additionally considers product characteristics and customer attributes. Our findings indicate that fast deliveries lead to a significant increase in the likelihood of returns, particularly among new customers. Insufficient post-purchase cognitive dissonance reduction may theoretically motivate this counterintuitive result as also indicated by a preliminary follow-up study reported in the online appendix. These insights challenge the prevalent assumption that the shortening of delivery times unequivocally benefits online retailers and customers, highlighting the need for a balanced management approach to order fulfillment that considers both benefits in terms of customer acquisition and downsides in terms of return costs.