In today’s retail world, customer experience is often packaged and delivered in a cardboard box. Despite a nearly infinite number of online retail options, customer loyalty remains alive and well. In many ways, retaining customers and providing stellar service begins and ends with a strong returns policy.
Your returns policy is often one of the first things a customer considers on the path to purchase. A Granify analysis of 20.8 million shoppers from 2013 showed that it was the most important decision-making factor for online clothing and apparel shoppers, even more so than price. And retailers who offer free shipping are rewarded with customers increasing purchases by up to 357 percent, according to the Journal of Marketing.
When assessing how to meet and exceed customers’ expectations with a returns strategy, consider these points:
1. Understand Returns. Closely review your customer service data to understand the reasons and common trends behind returns. According to TrueShip Blog, more than 65 percent of the time, a product is returned because of the merchant, not the customer. Shipment of incorrect or damaged items accounts for most returns. While it’s impossible to avoid all returns, developing a thoughtful internal strategy will help reduce mistakes and boost accuracy.
2. Make it easy. Keep customers well-informed by making your return policy visible during the entire buying process. Detailing your returns policy prominently may decrease shopping cart abandonment.
Once the order is placed, partner with a shipping provider that ensures streamlined shipping and returns processes. Pre-paid shipping labels, tracking updates and accessible collection locations can aid in providing a near effortless return experience for customers.
3. Focus on customer experience. Your returns strategy reflects your brand through customer experience. It’s important to make decisions regarding the tradeoff between customer satisfaction (i.e., low-cost or free returns for any reason) and profitability (i.e., limits on returns with customer costs). Additionally, it’s vital to understand the significance of a multichannel customer experience; Even the most effective returns process will not work without a customer support team in place to respond to a customer’s questions and feedback.
When a product doesn’t meet the customer’s needs, it doesn’t have to result in a negative experience. Capitalize on a straightforward returns process and provide customers with personalized service to create a memorable experience.
Stitch Fix, an online women’s apparel retailer and USPS customer, is one company that’s providing an outstanding customer experience through their returns process. Stitch Fix focuses on convenience by allowing clients to drop return packages in their mailbox or hand them to a postal carrier. “Our entire business is centered on making shopping more convenient, so it was vital to select a shipping partner that could provide that level of service,” said Julie Bornstein, chief operating officer at Stitch Fix.
Retailers like Stitch Fix understand customer loyalty is attainable if you listen to your customers’ needs. Nearly 90 percent of customers will return to shop where they have had a positive return experience, according to a 2014 Endicia study. Focusing on a strong returns policy that both increases accuracy and simplifies the customer experience may serve as an acquisition and retention tactic at a time when more retailers than ever are competing for customers.
“You should try to make the returns process so easy that it’s not an interruption to your client’s day or their overall experience with your company,” Bornstein said.
Favorite