The intent of this study was to determine: 1) the textile knowledge possessed by garment salespersonnel; 2) the primary reasons given by consumers for the return of garments; and 3) relationships between textile product knowledge of salespersonnel and ratio of garment returns to sales.
The research site selected was a large metropolitan department store and three o f its branch stores. Within the store, twelve women's dress departments were studied since both the prime purchasers and prime consumers of the merchandise were women. Information was needed from two sample groups: consumers who had returned dresses and salespersonnel. Information from a random sample of 185 return records was recorded onto a Returned Merchandise Form developed by the researcher. The sample of salespersonnel included individuals selling dresses in the twelve departments studied. A multiple choice Textile Product Knowledge (T.P.K.) measure was developed, pretested, and administered to these women.
An Item Analysis was performed on the T.P.K. measure, reliability at the .470 level was determined by Kuder-Richardson 20 Reliability Estimate. Means, frequency counts, and percentages were employed to evaluate descriptive data while chi square analysis, simple correlations, and ANOV were used to test hypotheses. The .05 level of significance was chosen for acceptance or rejection of relationships or differences.
Although findings indicated that garment salespeople need additional textile training, no significant relationship was found between the score achieved by a salesperson on the T.P.K. measure and educational level attained or experience. A significant (p ≤ .01) association was found between the primary reasons given by customers for the return of garments and timespan between purchase and return, and a lesser association (p ≤ .10) between retail price and reason for return. The primary reasons given for the return of dresses were related to style, fit, or aesthetics and most individuals returned merchandise during the week following purchase. Although not significant, results suggested a relationship between salespersons' T.P.K. scores and percentage of garment returns.