Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

You and Yours

Magazines & Reviews

Factual: Consumer

You and Yours: Online Shopping: From Clicks to Bricks and Back Again

you-and-yours_glasses-shop_300516_e_charlie-davies.jpg

30/05/2016

Online Shopping: From Clicks to Bricks and Back Again

BBC Radio 4 - You and Yours, Online Shopping: From Clicks to Bricks and Back Again

Serial returners - 60% of womenswear bought online ends up being sent back.

The consumer affairs programme travels to New York to see how formerly online-only businesses are turning to high street showrooms. Could it work in the UK?

We're looking at how the internet has changed the high street, our shopping habits and what we wear. You can now see what your favourite actress is wearing in Cannes, order it in 6 sizes and colours and be wearing it within 24 hours. And we are doing that in ever-increasing numbers.

But what happens to the clothing we inevitably reject? We talk to the man who deals with forty football fields worth of online returns and learn that more than half of clothing bought online ends up being returned. You can learn about what he calls "the sniff test" for returned garments.

We travel to New York where once online-only businesses are opening high street showrooms in an attempt to recapture the magic of shopping. Would that catch on here?

And we discuss whether there's trouble ahead as entertainment and marketing become blurred. Exclusive new research shows that young people are shopping on smartphones, anytime and anywhere. Plus they are heavily influenced by celebrity and blogger endorsements. How will they navigate all that?

Presenter: Samantha Fenwick
Producer: Olive Clancy.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

You and Yours

Online Shopping: From Clicks to Bricks and Back Again

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4