How to Reduce Returns for your Ecommerce Business

Being an online retailer comes with many advantages. It gives you the chance to use multichannel listing tools to showcase your products across various platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Etsy, etc. It also enables you to employ features such as inventory management software, real-time inventory sync tool, shipping management software, and order management tools to make the process of online selling much easier. However, in addition to these positives, there are also certain negatives you need to deal with, and one of them is that of product returns.

Returns usually occur when customers aren’t able to try a product beforehand or receive something different than what they’d expected. A study states that the cost of product returns will rise to a staggering $550 billion by 2020. Needled to say, product returns are neither pleasant nor pretty. They’re time-consuming, tedious, and cause a lot of harm to your business. Not only do you end up losing money, it can often unknowingly harm customer relations or create a bad image about your company.

Ways to Reduce the Return Rate of your Products

Here are some ways in which you can reduce the return rate for your ecommerce business:

1. Optimise Product Descriptions

Having manufacturer-written product descriptions is an absolute no-no. Write your product descriptions in such a vivid manner that it gives your customers the feel of a brick-and-mortar store; like they can almost touch it. Make sure you include all the important details such as size, colour, pattern, design, intended age, etc. If there’s a model wearing one of your products, see to it that the size dimensions of the model are mentioned as well, so that your customers can get an idea accordingly.

2. High-Quality Product Photos

A research from Shorr states that poor photos are the cause behind 30% of all online product returns. Therefore, provide your audience with high-quality photos that give them a clear idea of what your product is like. Don’t overly edit it, and provide a visual from every angle possible. If needed, you can also add in a little video so that your customers can get a clearer view of the item. See to it that the image isn’t misleading to the viewer in any manner, and that the quality is high enough to be zoomed in on properly.

3. Encourage Product Reviews

Reviews and testimonials play a major role in influencing a buyer’s decision. While positive, raving reviews are the best, there is a bright side to negative reviews as well, because they enlighten you about your own product. Product reviews often include details of the product that your product description may have overlooked. These detailed reviews make other customers trust your product even more and help them make an informed decision.

4. Provide Stellar Customer Support

Every business is made for the customer. Therefore, providing stellar customer service is the primary thing to look into. Having a customer service team that’s available for your customer 24×7 is the best option. That way, they can assist in the customer’s buying process in case they come across any hurdles.

If your customer service staff is equipped with a fully integrated CRM system, that’s even better. It will allow them to look up all the relevant information of the customers beforehand and provide them with even better service.

5. On-Time Delivery with Tracking

Placing online orders is usually followed up by excitement and anticipation for most people. Give your customers their money’s worth by delivering on time and providing tracking details, too. If your customers have to wait for a long time to receive their orders, they’re bound to get annoyed; especially so if the item they receive is not to their liking, for then they will question if this is what they waited for for so long.

6. Solid Packaging Goes a Long Way

If you’re experiencing a lot of product returns, it might be time to evaluate your packaging. Are the dresses getting wrinkled? Are the books arriving damaged? Are glass items chipped when they reach the customer? Reevaluate your packaging, for that’s an extremely vital feature for every ecommerce business. Flimsy packaging leads to products getting ruined, which in turn caused consumers to place returns.

Summing Up

Returns are a hassle for any business, and even more so for ecommerce businesses. Not only do they make you face monetary losses, it gives your company a bad name as well. Product descriptions, accurate images, commendable customer service, etc., are all characteristics that combine together to help you in reducing the return rate of your products. Therefore, invest time in implementing these features, and your return rate is sure to go down.