First and foremost, commit to an ongoing formal program to reduce returns. Reducing returns is not an event and must be pursued by marketing and operational personnel relentlessly.
1. Have a clear return/exchange policy that is easily understood by all. Test some variants.
2. For every return record the reason for return. Keep it simple and obvious offer 3-5 choices...(do not include it as some endless customer satisfaction survey)
a. Product was not as expected
b. Product was wrong size
c. Could not get product to work
d. Product was wrong color, or I did not like the color
e. Product arrived too late
The above are just suggestions, each situation will be different. For example, one of our customers was selling a brand name tablet online and the product returns were high and as we were processing the returns, we were able to quickly identify that customers could not figure out how to turn the tablet on. We put a simple “How to turn the tablet on”, instructional sheet with each shipment and returns dropped dramatically. Similarly, if your apparel, footwear, or ring fit smaller or larger than normal, advise the customer at the time of purchase.
3. Have a post-sale customer communication plan. If the product is delayed, message the customer. If selling during “Black Friday”, advise the customer due to heavy sales volumes, the product arrive a few days later than normal. If you are using a carrier that does not provide tracking numbers, advise your customer when the product has shipped. Any assurance provided to the customer will reduce post transaction anxiety and is always better than a communication vacuum.
4. Ensure all of your communication has a dedicated customer care email and preferably text address included, as well as a toll-free number. (Text is very popular in this area, as it is immediate and quickly establishes rapport.) It is also good to have an auto reply set up as you will receive ‘off hours’ inquiries and simply advising the customer you will get back to them within a defined number of hours will reduce anxiety…(note, not all of you customers will be located in your time zone).
5. Tag customers that return/exchange product so that they are identified when making orders in the future. While repeat customers are ‘gold’ in the eCommerce world, some online sellers have discovered a very small number of customers are responsible for the majority of returns…the 80-20 rule. If you see some trends limit exchanges to one per customer…. (advise them with the first exchange). This will limit the impact of “wardrobers” and “fitting roomers”.
6. Don’t sell products before you have it in stock and are ready to deliver. There is no quicker way to waste marketing investments and compromise customer relationships.
Give us a call at 1-888-900-HERO for a ‘no salesy’ conversation.