Whale chart

Whale charts - Visualising customer profitability

The Christmas and New Year’s break is over, yet there is still time to return unwanted presents. Return to Santa was the title of an article in the Economist that highlighted the impact on online retailers, as return rates can be alarmingly high. The article quotes a study by Christian Schulze of the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, which analysed the return habits of customers who bought at least five items over a five year period from a large European online retailer.