It’s that time of the year when jump scares are common, there’s undoubtedly another Halloween movie coming out and you stock up on way too much candy for the little ones who ring your doorbell on Oct. 31.

Sounds like a ghoulish-good time, but you know what’s really, really scary? When one of your customers had a bad experience returning an item.

Okay, okay – I know this might be a stretch, but bear with me here while I tell you more about how you can improve your return policies without losing potential sales. And along the way, we’ll have a ghostly good time.

Why Returns Matter: Lifetime Customer Value 

It’s easy to say that returns don’t matter to your e-commerce business because you might mistakenly assume the customer will buy something else. While this is wishful thinking, it’s probably not realistic.

If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you know people return products for all kinds of reasons. Recently, one of my colleagues returned something he bought online. The experience was a painful because he was presented with more than a dozen possible reasons for the return—and had to pick just one. The process took too much of his time.

Sure, you want to know “why” a customer returns something, but the bottom line is you want to have that customer for life. Just last month, I wrote a blog about Lifetime Customer Value and why it’s more important to keep a customer than recruit 10 others to fill their place.

According to Shopify—one of Certum Solutions’ e-commerce partners—when people decide to return their online purchases, most retailers opt to refund the purchase price to the customer. Some offer exchanges, while others give a gift card to redeem on a future purchase.

Sounds good, but the scary part here is how you handle the return and manage your customer’s expectations. If you mishandle the return, you’ll “add a hurdle in your mission toward getting repeat customers,” according to Shopify. Data shows nearly 80% of U.S. online shoppers are less likely to shop from the same retailer again due to a poor returns experience.

In a survey of U.S. retailers, the leading return preferences among online shoppers, 87% of respondents said free returns are important, while 78% said a poor return experience makes them less likely to shop with that e-commerce retailer again.

Best Practices in E-Commerce Returns 

The best scenario is making the process as easy as possible for your customers. There’s no doubt that even the most loyal buyer will return something at some point in their journey with you. Again, a not-so-great return experience will not enable future sales.

Of course, there’s the process of keeping your books accurate and current when it comes to returns. Certum Solutions can help you with that.

Here are some best practices for consideration:

Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. How easy is the return process? If you were one of your customers, would you think the process is smooth and efficient? Think like one of your customers and envision how the return will go. You might also ask your friends or colleagues to go through the return process to gauge if it was easy for them. They’ll give you honest feedback.

Make your return process as green as possible. No one has to be a diehard environmentalist to have the desire to save our planet, so it helps if you can make the return process as sustainable as possible. For example, stop including free return labels in a customer’s box. Instead, encourage them to visit your site to complete and print their own labels.

Communicate on the status of the return—and be creative! You’ll want to find a way to automate your returns, but that doesn’t mean you don’t take the time to speak to the customer and keep them informed about their returns.

Try to think of different ways you can touch the customer. Without being too obtrusive, you could send an automated email, which is standard practice, but you could also call the customer if you have the ability and time to do that. If you received a personal phone call from an e-commerce retailer, it might go a long way to truly offering a personalized experience.

How about offering a free gift or offering a percent off another item?  The choices are endless.

Final Thoughts

In today’s competitive buying environment, vying for a customer’s dollar is paramount to long-term survival and increases the likelihood a customer will refer you to someone else. Stay focused and find a way to ensure your returns go smoothly.

Thumbnail photo by Tandem X Visuals on Unsplash