From Brick-and-Mortar to Click-to-Order: How Designer Revival uses Return Assurance to Maintain Trust and Credibility Online
49%
increase in checkout completion rate
38%
attach rate
6%
increase in Average Order Value
Specializing in pre-owned designer apparel, handbags, shoes, and accessories, Designer Revival was one of the very first consignment stores in NYC and has now been a neighborhood mainstay for over 30 years. With a meticulously curated collection and personalized service for each and every customer and consignor, it is truly an NYC trendsetter’s favorite destination.
Location:
New York City
Industry:
E-commerce - Fashion and Apparel
Platform:
Shopify
Type of Business:
Consignment Marketplace
Tiffany Keriakos, CEO & Founder of Designer Revival
“Seel really allows us to compete because all the bigger guys take returns. For small businesses that can't really afford to do so, especially with resale when you have one-of-a-kind items, being able to take returns has allowed us to succeed and really compete. It’s a game changer”
Background
High end consignment is a unique and challenging space in ecommerce especially when you factor in the prevalence of counterfeit handbags. In the resale business, personal touch is key to building trust and credibility. It is the high-touch experience that has allowed Designer Revival, a small consignment business, to persevere and succeed on the Upper East Side for 35 years as a brick-and-mortar store.
With the seismic shift in the digital landscape, Designer Revival has also gone online to target the younger demographics and complement its offline store. The COVID shock has further pumped steroids into its online sales.
This is when the challenge comes with maintaining that trust and credibility.
What’s next
With Return Assurance at its back, Designer Revival has enjoyed notable performance gains without taking extra costs or risks. Looking into the future, it still seeks to expand its online distribution by breaking into non-US markets, as well as dabbling in live-streaming shopping, while Seel again, will act as the trust layer for its modern commerce.
Problem
Since Designer Revival only receives a commission on sold merchandise, they can’t afford to offer refunds and returns on their own. This means Designer Revival would lose sales when customers weren’t 100% confident in their purchase.
Use Case
Online purchases are always in suspense until they finally arrive. That’s why returns are a vital remedy for buyer’s remorse. It is even more so for second-hand items, as is the case for Designer Revival. It’s uncomfortable for shoppers to buy a non-returnable vintage luxury handbag, betting that this would be what they expected.
While returns were not an option for Designer Revival in the past, Seel’s Return Assurance came to the rescue.
Return Assurance lets customers opt-in a return option to their orders as they check out, with a tiny fraction of fee as a percentage of order value calculated by algorithms. The experience is almost frictionless, but if they decide to return that order for any reason, Seel will refund the customer and take complete care of the shipment and returned goods. With Return Assurance taking less than 30 minutes to install, Designer Revival has supercharged customer trust and confidence, without any financial or manpower investment.
The Return Assurance turned out to be a huge success. The attach rate registered up to 37.79%, verifying the need for the return option for Designer Revival customers. Moreover, the value it added to the business is real: Conversion went up from 0.07% to 0.09%, an increase of a whopping 28.57%; Average order value (AOV) jumped from $555.0 to $588.16, up by 6%.
