Bianca Barath
If you run an e-commerce company, expect returns. So, along with your shipping plans, you need to frame your returns policies. Everything needs to be in black and white.
These are the 5 best return policies that e-commerce stores generally have:
1. Accept returns in the first place
Customers put their trust in you when they purchase from you. Sometimes, their expectations and your product do not match. Unless you enable easy returns, the customer is never coming back to your store. If you facilitate easy returns, however disappointed the customer was with the product, they will still have a great opinion on your store. So, understand that all sales are not final. Accepting returns involves several processes: return shipping, exchange, refund or credit. So, deal with every department and make sure the customer does not have a daunting task ahead of him when he chooses to return a product he is not satisfied with.
2. Do everything possible to avoid returns
Customers return products only when they are not satisfied with them. So, minimise disappointment. Do not promise the moon. Stick to accurate descriptions and good product photography. These steps can help minimize returns a great deal. Do not share photographs of something else and deliver something different. And when you describe a product, make sure you mention power requirements, guarantee and warranty details. Ensure that the colour of the product is exactly what the photograph shows.
3. Stick to plain English
Do not sound verbose when you describe the product. Unless you deal with very niche customers who are expected to understand jargons, do not use jargons. Your legal policy should also be simple to understand. Even if you mean what you intend to mean, if your language is ambiguous, you will have product returns because the customer has understood it differently. Whose mistake is that? Yours, because you leave scope for such misunderstanding.
4. No fine text
If you have a caveat, mention it forthright without minimising font size. Your policies, especially the ones that matter should never be tucked away in a corner. Post the exact return policy as is. Your customer should find all details he needs right before his eyes.
Your customer should never bear the costs of returns. Not a single cent. If you hide return costs, that’s the worst image you can ever build in front of your customer. If you still want to make the customer pay for return shipping, you need to mention it very clearly.
5. Exchange, credit or cash?
If you are willing to refund the customer in case he returns the product, mention that. And if it is store credit you are willing to offer, mention that in black and white. If you send a malfunctioning product, it shouldn’t be the customer’s responsibility to pay for anything.
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