How To Make Returns Work For Your Business

How To Make Returns Work For Your Business

Returns form an integral part of the online shopping process. In this article we will review how you can offer returns in the most efficient way for your business.

Firstly, let’s explore how having an appropriate returns process in place forms a key role in the online customer journey.

1 in 4 shoppers will abandon their cart if a free and transparent returns process isn’t available (source: Barclaycard).  Online retailers are changing their perspective on offering free returns. Initially, the view was surrounding not wanting to refund banked revenue. However, with free returns being such an important driver to checkout, online sellers recognise that a lack of free returns, actually results in lost sales.

Below are our top tips for making returns mutually beneficial for your business and your customers:

 

  • Provide more product information, be as concise as you can. You can include measurements, pictures from different angles, and videos. This will help the customer to make better judgements and reduce your inbound returns.
  • Ensure your returns page is transparent, as-well as detailing how refunds work. Include ‘printer-free’ options to further streamline for your customer. Many retailers think by making a return difficult to do, many customers won’t bother, however as discussed above, in 25% of cases, the consumer will abandon their cart.
  • Increase the product price to cover cost of returns. Conduct some analysis on your return % rate, and how much it is costing you as a business.
  • Larger companies like Amazon use AI technology to establish whether processing a return is financially viable with the margin in the product, in some cases they simply refund the customer and let them keep the item. This also has a better impact on the environment, which you can include in your sustainability mission statement.
  • Reduce the amount of time a customer is given to return goods. This will improve your inventory and stock overview, and streamline your supply chain.
  • Partner with Noatum e-Solutions, who can offer you a full reverse logistics solution, giving you endless control over your returns, and your customer endless return options to suit them.

 

Please contact esolutionsuk@noatumlogistics.com, where one of our friendly team will be happy to provide more information on our delivery solutions.

 

Sources

https://home.barclaycard/press-releases/2018/06/return-to-sender/