A survey from Klarna has revealed that with the rising rates of product returns in the world of safe shopping online, people are more likely to use a site if it lets them ship goods back to the retailer without having to pay for the privilege.

86 per cent of respondents to the study said that they would prefer to use e-commerce outlets that had a free returns policy compared with ones that did not provide this option. Furthermore, 84 per cent said that if the experience of using the returns system was not up to scratch, they would not return to use the site in question in the future.

Almost two-thirds of those questioned said that they would completely overlook any online retailer that had not implemented the option to return purchases for free, while 75 per cent said the ease of the returns process was a major factor that would determine whether or not they chose to shop with a site in the first place.

Almost nine in ten people said that being able to choose whether a product was sent back via the post or taken in person to a local bricks-and-mortar location was another important element in determining the quality of the returns experience.

Just under a third said that being able to take a product for a test run at home before deciding to go through with a purchase and keep it was a potential motivator for increasing the amount of online shopping they carried out.

Report spokesperson Luke Griffiths said that unless retailers do more to focus on the effectiveness and convenience of their returns policies, they could find that their customers are likely to look elsewhere, even if the rest of the e-commerce experience they offer is outstanding.