Returns are often considered the bane of a retailer’s business. Lost sales can seem costly, and it’s tempting to restrict your return How to write a policy to discourage customers from returning merchandise.
But a restrictive return policy can harm your business far more than it helps. A customer-oriented return policy , on the other hand, may be british student data worth losing sales because you’ll gain the loyalty of those customers in the long run.
In this article, we will discover:
- How return policies impact stores
- How to Write a Return Policy That’s Good for You and Your Customers
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How much money do retail stores lose from product returns?
For many retailers, returns are a frustrating expense. Returns cost the retail industry over $100 billion annually , and only 5% of those returns are due to defects. As long as customers buy products, some will be returned, even if the item in question is fault-free.
In addition to lost sales, returns can result in generate seo at trade shows having to pay for cleaning or reconditioning items. There’s no guarantee that returned items will sell a second time, especially if you’ve restocked during the time it took the customer to return the item. You may end up having to sell it off, which will ultimately hurt your return on investment.
A customer-centric return policy helps build customer loyalty
But here’s the thing: that aero leads returns process you hate? Customers often hate it too.
If your returns policy frustrates your customers, you risk eroding their loyalty. A study conducted by Capgemini found that 75% of customers believe retailers need to do more to improve the returns experience .
More than half of customers are willing to abandon their purchase process due to poor return policy experiences, even if they were previously very loyal.
Charging for returns, whether through shipping fees for online returns or restocking fees , can send a message to customers that they can’t trust you to put them first.
If you try to discourage serial returns—that is, people who buy products only to return them after one use, or not at all—by imposing restrictive return deadlines and conditions, you will end up discouraging honest customers as well.
