IanIt really is simple. If you want to sell more, you should be willing to accept more product returns.Most customers who shop online, love the convenience of shopping from home. But they are wary of return policies. The one shortcoming of online stores is that there is no touch-feel-see-try buy.
Several surveys claim that hassle-free returns were a top priority when people make online purchases. It is on par with the other important factor: Free Shipping. So, how does one overcome this shortcoming and attract customers who are apprehensive about making the right choice online?
1. No Questions Asked
So, a customer buys a pair of shoes online. And it arrives but she finds that the colour does not go with her complexion. Sigh! Yes, the shoes are great. The delivery is great. The shoes look great. It IS a great buy indeed. But, are you ready to take it back on a customer’s whim? If yes, you just earned reputation amidst the shoe lady and her friends! People love it when you are willing to take purchases back without any questions asked.
2. Break in Period
Let’s say an Apple patron decides to change loyalty and get an Android phone. He understands that the initial week is tough. Shifting from Apple to Android is like becoming a left handed person all of a sudden, after 30 years of being right handed. A week passes and the confused cell phone owner decides he’s getting back to what he knows best- Apple. While in real life, no phone dealer would take a used phone (even if it’s only a week old and he has clicked only a 100 selfies) and give the ‘customer’ store credit to exchange it for a new phone, you do get the idea, right? The confused
Apple patron would love an opportunity to try out a new phone, use it until he breaks in and then decide if he really wants to spend his nights looking into this screen rather than another.So, the consensus is that, an online store that offers a break-in period returns offer is one that gains several brownie points from customers.
3. Pick up from doorstep
A customer reads, to his satisfaction, that the online store is willing to take goods back if the customer is unhappy with it. And then he reads the next line that wipes his smile off his face and he elates your store for good. What was the next line? ‘Hi, in case you want to return the goods purchased, please ship it to us in original casing and we are only a continent away’. Solution?
Mention that you are willing to pick it up from the customer’s doorstep! Sign up for returns shipping as well, with your freight partner.
4. International returns policy
So, the customer gets sushi knives from Japan. The international brand is all for returns in-case-the-customer-is-not-happy. The customer is super excited and takes it back home to the USA to find that the knives aren’t right. It is an international brand. Can he return to the local franchise in the USA and claim his replacement? In this globetrotter universe, this geographically flexible returns policy is to be given much thought.
5. Easy packaging
Yes, we understand that original packaging is important when it comes to entertaining product returns. BUT, how easy is it to pull your packaging apart AND reassemble the packaging in case the customer wants to return it to you? Talk if impact analysis from the remotest corners possible. This counts!
