How to Make Your Customer Returns Process Easier

For any business selling quality products, the customer returns process will need to be swift and smooth. Customers have the right to return something for a legitimate reason. Many businesses around the globe struggle with this side of the work as they’re too focused on making sales and generating money. It must be emphasized that around 30% of all products bought online are returned and, therefore, a huge portion of effort must be put into this area.

When looking to make a purchase, 67% of all customers check the returns page and policy for committing to a product. So, as a business – large or small – one of your main priorities is making sure you have a solid, successful product returns process. Here are a few ways you can bring this to fruition:

Have A Clear Returns Policy

If you have a clear and easy-to-understand returns policy, you’re going to put customers in a much better frame of mind when approaching you. Customers will always want to do business with companies that are transparent and simple in their nature. Lots of companies fail in this regard because they try to make the return policy as convoluted as possible. While this might reduce returns every now and again, it will only dampen your reputation and relationships in the long run.

A huge level of importance will need to be placed on the likes of eCommerce packaging both during deliveries and returns. If you provide reliable and reusable packaging, then customers are going to be more inclined to do the work and send things back smoothly. You can create custom packaging for eCommerce projects quite simply if you check online and scout the best companies.

If you are open to giving refunds in an easy and flexible way, you’re going to attract a lot more sales and increase your order value. You’ll be dealing with less customer support and will be saving valuable time/resources.

Implement An Efficient Inventory Management

If you have an efficient inventory management system, you’ll likely have a solid returns process. Returns will affect physical inventory, digital inventory, and accounting systems – these will all impact your store and the website customers will be browsing. Technology such as handheld scanners can identify products and deal with them. With this, you’ll be able to get a genuine look at your customer returns and inventory levels. This is beneficial to all parties as your readiness and speediness of returns will provide a better experience.

Understand How to Manage Returns and Misuse

There will be times where people look to take advantage of returns policies. This happens pretty regularly and it can be a difficult time for retailers. There are plenty of things you can do to manage this kind of misuse, however:

You can firstly train your staff on what to look for regarding fraudulent behaviour. Teach them about your company policies and how best to manage the situations based on them. Anti-tamper bags and restocking fees are also good additions. If you always require proof of purchase from customers, then it’s going to make fraudulent and illegal behaviour a lot scarcer, too.

Provide Visibility into Your Ecommerce Returns Through Tracking

Once an order has been placed, many e-commerce businesses will allow the customer to see how everything is moving. The delivery day and time, the packaging, the transit, and a wide range of other aspects can be understood. This same kind of work should go into returns. You can use tools such as automatic text alerts in order to notify once a return has been received and dealt with.

Need To Improve Your Product Returns Process? Find Out How by Checking Out Our Guide

Looking at ways to improve your product returns process? Find out how by following these five simple tips here.

Alternatively, you can get in touch with a member of the DiamondBox team today via our contact form below to see how we can help improve your product returns process. You can also contact our team today on 0121 505 2211 or by emailing us at sales@diamond-box.co.uk. We look forward to hearing from you.