E-commerce Insights: Take a Page From the 14th Century

The cost of the 4-year-old program shows up in the company P&L statement on the marketing line, rather than the operations line.

Kurt Goodwin, senior vice president of sales and support at Crutchfield, notes that while free return shipping isn’t cheap, it removes a big obstacle customers often have when purchasing from the electronics merchant. “We saw a big lift in sales when it was first put in place 10 years ago,” he says. “We promote the offer everywhere: in the catalog, on the Web site, in e-mail and in chat.”