How to Deal With the Rising Return Rate

Product returns are inevitable for any commerce business. According to a 2016 Multichannel Merchant survey, 15 percent of commerce businesses reported 10 – 14 percent returns on total number of sales made in 2016. They also reported that return rates were 8 – 10 percent in 2015. One of the major reasons is that commerce businesses have been implementing relatively lenient return policies.

Nevertheless, a return is not welcomed by any business. Therefore, one should adapt certain strategies in order to keep the return rate under control.

Don’t miss the provision of any detail

One major reason for the high return rate is that companies ignore to give complete details such as specs, size and condition to the customers. Hence, there is a fair chance that they would develop expectation about the product to be something which it is actually not. With that said, they have the right to return the product by giving the reason that product didn’t have the particular feature they were expecting. Thus, you will have to ensure that you are not missing providing even the tiniest of details about the product.

Ensure product safety

Anything can happen during shipping of the product. So, you will have to make sure that your product’s packing is safe enough to endure the shocks while keeping the inner contents cushioned well. For that purpose, pay attention to the high quality shipping supplies such as sturdy boxes and cushioning materials.

Let your vendors know the stats

If you are getting products from vendors, let them know the complete details about number of returns and return rate. This way, they will be able to work on perfecting their measurement criteria in order to reduce the return rate.

Provide effective customer support

Reminding the buyers that they can contact the people behind store front is necessary to eliminate any confusion. While marketing your product whenever and wherever, give reasonable emphasis on the portion of ad that would contain information about the customer support the buyers can contact with before or after purchasing the product. You can provide email ID, postal address, phone and fax number along with the advertisement in this regard.

Draw a clear line

There are certain products which cannot be returned; for instance personalized products, customized orders and clearance merchandise. Explain clearly and boldly that you are not going to accept returns for such products. Make a detailed return policy in this regard and make it adequately discoverable online for the buyers.

Set a deadline for return

Set a reasonable deadline for product return; for example 60 days. While there are vendors who do not give this much time but customer may argue that he/she had got the product a long time after the ordering. So, make sure that the product delivery is prompt and swift, and that customer has enough time to consider product return. That would increase admiration for your brand and your customer would be happy too.