Returns are part and parcel of any eCommerce business. All companies will have a returns policy, but there are some things you can do to make your lives and your customer’s life easier.

From having a clear refund policy, a good CMS to creating a relationship with your 3PL company, there are many things you can do to improve your returns.

1: SLIP A “HOW TO RETURN” CARD IN YOUR PARCEL

In order to create an effective returns system, the customer needs education. The point at which they need education is the part after they’ve just opened the parcel, especially if you’re a clothing company.

A small card explaining how to return, where to find out more information and your customer service team are three good things to put on them. You could also utilise QR codes on your packing slips to provide a link to your returns policy.

If someone needs to print off a return slip, you could get them to request one using the click and drop Royal Mail system or similar from Hermes. This is also better for the environment than sending every customer a return slip.

2. CREATE A GOOD SET OF EMAILS

You’ll probably have some basic emails set up for your ecommerce store but it’s worth adding in returns one explaining what to do if they want one. You can then also add in emails like “return received” and “return processed”. These help the customer to know where they are in the cycle and gives them transparency with what you are doing.

If you wanted to be super fancy, you could even set up reviews and feedback emails so you can learn why the customer wanted to return.

Providing the customer with tracking at all stages of the product life cycle is key to creating a good impression in their mind.

3. BE SUSTAINABLE WITH IT

When ASOS announced earlier this year it was going paperless in its returns, it became a lot more feasible to many other brands that this was an easy way to improve sustainability.

You can do email-based return slips as we mentioned earlier, or use existing systems from Royal Mail, Hermes, DPD etc and the network of parcel shops nationwide to get consumers to drop off parcels and connect them with major courier networks. This saves you both time and energy, as existing systems are easier to understand than creating something new from scratch.

4. SPEAK TO YOUR 3PL PROVIDER

Here at Bray, we offer returns management solutions as well as contract packing. We’ve got some excellent machinery that is able to perform packing at high speed as well as a rework team.