Once the dust settles on the festive season, eCommerce businesses around the country should be set to deal with the inevitable return of unwanted Christmas gifts.
As a result, the efficiency of your business’s returns process should be second to none.
Not only will a good returns policy and impeccable service inspire loyalty, but it also makes customers more likely to buy your product initially AND in the future.
Generally, there are five reasons for a customer to return an item:
- They changed their minds
- The item is poor quality
- The delivery was slow
- There was a fulfilment error
- The item is not what the customer expected
With these five factors in mind, take a look at our top three ways to get your business ready for the post-Christmas returns rush …
Make your returns policy explicit
Firstly, it’s crucial that your returns policy isn’t buried deep within the confines of your site. Customers want to know the process for returning items and how long they have to do so. Far from inciting a spike in returns, a clear policy should inspire an increase in sales if a customer feels assured they have adequate time to obtain a refund should the item not meet their expectations.
Keep it simple
It pays to offer your customers a money back, satisfaction guaranteed returns policy. By improving contentment and keeping your return instructions clear and concise, it avoids unwanted items heading to the wrong address – and that means you sidestep additional processing costs and a throng of irate customers.
Rapidity is the key
Quite simply, when your customer sends an item back, they want to obtain a refund as quickly as they made the initial purchase. On average, your customers will have less patience as they wait for you to process their return, and it’s an area where your connection with the customer is likely to collapse.
If you’d like to talk to us about improving your company’s reverse logistics, get in touch – we’d be pleased to hear from you.
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