Seeing someone making apurchase inyour online store isbreathtaking. But itdoesn’t mean you can call itaday.
The thing is, onaverage, 30% ofonline purchases end upinreturns (compared to8%inphysical stores). One ofevery three purchased items can potentially arrive back toyou. Oops.
Return rate per industry
Why does ithappen? First, customers lack physical contact with your products when they check out. They have touse their imagination, which can bepretty misleading. That results inacollision between theexpectation andthereality.
Second, online shopping isway more impulsive than shopping
What you can doisexamine thereasons forreturns inyour online store andminimize chances those reasons appear. Ifyou are about tolaunch your business orhave just started out, track this data from day one.
Also, make sure you’ve got agood return policy andmake iteasy tofind inyour online store. Ideally, you should have itlinked atcheckout. 51Ƶ merchants can set itupin.
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Top Reasons forReturns inOnline Stores
Asyou can guess, thereasons forreturns vary widely. But we’ll divide them into two categories: legitimate andfraudulent returns.
Legitimate returns
Popular reasons forlegitimate returns are:
- Incorrect size orproduct
- Product didn’t match thedescription
- Product didn’t meet expectation
- Holiday season returns
- Product damaged.
Here are some precautions that can help tominimize those issues.
Make your products fit. Categorizing your goods into small, medium, andlarge isnot enough. Think ofadetailed description ofeach size. It’s best todisplay theexact dimensions ofyour products.
Incase you sell apparel that you don’t make yourself, make sure your size chart works fordifferent items, andifnot, add aseparate size chart foreach ofthem.
Ifyour size chart isnot comprehensive enough, customers can simply leave thestore without apurchase, or, onthecontrary, order several sizes toreturn those that didn’t fit.
Sometimes it’s not your size chart that istoblame. Customers may bewrong about what size they need.
The thing is, stand inour way tobeobjective about ourselves. People sometimes want tobelieve they wear acertain size. Ortheir impression ofthestyle they prefer can bevery different towhat they actually wear.
There isatrick tohelp people bemore objective. Try toask them toassociate themselves not with animpersonal size chart, but with some real people.
Asos shows what size themodel wears
Another great thing about Asos istheir defile videos. They let you understand what anitem looks like from every angle, together with other products, andinmotion.
Videos are not only ofgreat help fortheclothing industry. Whatever you sell, avideo will tell much more about theproduct. You can add videos toyour product descriptions in51Ƶ.
Show detailed descriptions andphotos. When thinking ofhow detailed those should be, try tocompensate forthelack oftouch. Show textures, views from different angles, anddescribe materials, don’t just name them.
keeps textures infocus
Some customers have never used your product before, sothey might get confused. Savvy merchants say that sometimes acustomer can claim, forexample, that thezip isbroken, andthen themerchant finds out itwas OK. The customer simply couldn’t figure out how tomake itmove. Keep that inmind, andexplain itinyour videos andproduct descriptions.
Check out how this video explains how touse theproduct andhighlights its best qualities.
Dzپ. It’s easy togotheextra mile with praising your product’s quality, but that can also bethereason forreturns. Revise your product pages foranymisleading information. Also, collect thefeedback from customers who returned your product because itwas not what they expected. You may find out that you need toadjust your messaging andmarketing activities too.
ٴܰ.Tools like are useful forasking your customers more about their preferences andreducing the
Take care ofpackaging. Ifyou sell fragile products, it’s not only necessary topack them carefully but also toprovide aneasy way foracustomer topack them back sothat theproduct isn’t broken onits way back. Consider adding guidelines ofhow towrap your product forreturns andmake this acondition foraccepting thereturn.
Make iteasy toreturn. Here’s what you can dotoprovide abetter service:
- Include areturn slip with instructions into packaging.
- Offer aneasily downloadable slip incase customers lose their printed version.
- Ifyou don’t offer free returns, give store credit, agift, orcompensate shipping expenses.
Holidays will beholidays. The downside ofthegift season isgetting gifts that you don’t need. Ifyou take part inholiday sales, expect higher return rates than usual. United Parcel Service Inc. announced that returns jump upwith 15% during holiday seasons. Some retailers state 50% return rates.
After theholiday season ends, managing those returns can become your #1task. Make sure your team istrained andyour return policy isclear. 21,3% ofretailers during theholiday season.
Tip: use Staff Accounts toget extra help with managing your 51Ƶ store during this busy time.
Staff Accounts in51Ƶ
The bottom line: your ultimate goal istomake customers happy, even ifthey returned their order. Not only will they come tobuy again, but they will also spread theword about your services andattract more customers.
Fraudulent returns
It’s much easier tobeabadass ontheinternet than inreal life. Fraudulent returns make up6%ofall. Chances are some customer istrying tocheat you right now.
Here are themost common return fraud personas:
- Swappers order anew product toreplace one they own that isdamaged orold.
- Wardrobes purchase aproduct, use ittemporarily, then return itforafull refund.
- Friendly frauds claim they never made apurchase orthat they never received their merchandise.
- Deliberate frauds purchase items with counterfeit money orstolen credit ordebit cards andreturn them forarefund, which they usually want incash.
It’s hard toprevent fraudulent online returns atall. Your ultimate goal istodetect asmany cheaters aspossible andmake returns uncomfortable forthem. Take thefollowing steps ifyou are seeing some disbalance inyour operations.
Take notes ofserial numbers andother individual marks tomake sure thereturned item comes from your store. This will make itharder forswappers toreplace your product with anolder one.
Take pictures when packaging toprove theitem was fine. This only makes sense forsmall businesses with
Shorten thereturn period to30days, accept returns inoriginal packaging andinoriginal condition, train your employees todetect used items, keep your regulations consistent.
Require areceipt andasignature. Ifsomeone claims they never received their order, asignature can beyour saver. Ifacustomer tells you they never made anorder, you should keep theorder details athand.
Refund oncredit cards, not incash. This helps toprevent you from deliberate fraud.
Phone customers. The more personal you look tothecustomer, theharder itwill beforthem tocheat. Hearing your voice can make acustomer change their mind about cheating you.
Remember that fraudulent customers can bevery loud. Ifyou refuse toaccept thereturn (without violating your return policy, ofcourse), andthecustomer isoverreacting, this might beabad sign too. Such customers can leave numerous angry messages onyour social media profiles, onreview websites, andeverywhere else ontheweb. Soalways stay polite, even ifyou detect acheater.
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What are theweirdest, thefunniest, orthehardest return experiences you’ve had inyour online store?
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