A 46% increase in online sales since 2020 is great news for
eCommerce brands. It's also created a host of new challenges, such as the
dramatic rise in returns. 38% of UK shoppers now feel confident enough with the returns process to return goods if they're not happy with them, and a quarter of
shoppers return goods multiple times before they complete their sale.
No wonder eCommerce businesses are feeling the pressure to
look for ways to manage the returns process efficiently and cost-effectively.
All too often brands find themselves managing a multichannel operation,
experiencing rising return rates as a result, and having to fire-fight in order
to stay on top of it all. There are cost-effective ways to manage returns
successfully, but strategic planning is required to achieve it.
Is Charging Customers for Returns the Solution?
25% of the UK's leading brands are now charging customers to
return items. Consumers complain that shopping online means transporting the
fitting room to your bedroom, so why should you be charged for trying items
before you buy. One might argue that denying this pleasure takes the fun out of
online shopping “ which is a dangerous tactic.
Online returns make a dent in profits, which is a problem
eCommerce legitimately needs to address. But are there alternatives to
curtailing the shopping experience for customers?
5 Tips for Managing Successful eCommerce Customer Returns
Prolog Fulfilment provides return management for eCommerce brands across a variety of retail sectors, including fashion
and beauty products. We work with our clients to reduce returns, recycle goods
efficiently, and optimise the process through reverse logistics. We've compiled
5 tips to help eCommerce brands that are struggling with customer returns.
1. Understand the Reason for Returns
Knowing your customers, their buying habits and, ultimately,
their reasons for returning goods can reduce the volume of items being sent
back. It may be that orders are inaccurate, or items are arriving damaged, or
later than promised. Understanding the core reasons why your customers return
items, allows you to take immediate steps to counter the problem.
2. Return Goods Management
How efficient is your return goods management? Taking a good
look at what happens to items once they're received back from customers, can
protect your profit margin, and increase inventory efficiency.
- Garments are quality checked, refolded, repackaged,
and returned to good stock for resale.
- ˜Change of Mind' items are quality checked,
repackaged, and are returned to good stock for resale.
- Faulty or damaged products are either repaired
in-house or graded for resale.
- End of life stock which cannot be resold is recycled.
3. Employ Reverse Logistics
Reverse logistics is the mirror image of the order fulfilment process which sends
products from a supplier to a customer. The reverse of this is to capture the
value of objects that are travelling in the opposite direction through the
supply chain, from customer back to supplier.
The focus of reverse logistics is upon the faulty, damaged,
or end-of-life stock that cannot be re-introduced into the inventory for
resale. This means looking for opportunities to:
- Rework goods as part of a promotion.
- Include goods in ˜end of season' sale.
- Sell goods as part of a bundle.
4. Take a Look at Product Imagery & Descriptions
Many items get returned because they're smaller, larger,
thicker, thinner or a different colour from what was expected. Given that the
aim is to delight customers at the moment of unboxing, it's worth taking some
time to check out how well your website is doing its job.
Are customers given the means to judge the height of an
object, or its texture? Do you show size comparisons. Is your imagery accurate
when it comes to colours. Would it be worth investing in 360-degree spinning
images, or product videos to show off your items better?
5. Automate the Process of Returns Management
Many eCommerce brands started out small, and returns were
easily managed by members of the team. As their business has grown, so has the volume of returns and this can quickly
lead to delayed refunds, or returned items being unprocessed. In both cases,
the result is lost customers as well as lost profits.
Once eCommerce brands reach the point where they need
significant investment in order to retain their customer service, they may want
to consider outsourcing returns management. Automated returns management is a
hefty investment for an eCommerce business. Outsourcing it to an order
fulfilment company with the infrastructure already in place improves returns
efficiency, retains customers, and potentially reduces returns volume.
Conclusion
The largest brands online are able to charge for returns
because they can absorb the losses that result from it. For smaller and
emerging brands, it's just not an option. A recent survey carried out by BigCommerce found that uncertainty about being able to return products and get a refund easily is one of the top reasons for shopping card abandonment.
Fast and efficient eCommerce returns tend, by contrast, to
enhance the loyalty of customers, lock in repeat sales, and result in
word-of-mouth recommendations. For small online businesses, good returns are
all about regular reviewing of returns data in order to nip any problems in the
bud. As brands get bigger, it's important that they recognise when it's time to
outsource their returns management in order to maintain customer satisfaction.
Short Bio
Amanda Price - Digital Content Executive and Researcher
for Imagefix | Amanda joined the Imagefix team in 2019, she brought
to the business an expertise in social media, SEO, copywriting, and blogging.
