Strategies to handle eCommerce return
Nowadays, consumers are connected and informed about different shopping options they can evaluate. Everything now lies in their hands as they can make or mar an online store. When they are unsatisfied with a particular product, they don’t hesitate to return the product. For eCommerce store owners, managing product returns can be a complex process that can create a crack in your business. To ensure you handle eCommerce return appropriately, we have compiled essential practices or strategies to manage eCommerce returns effectively without losing your customers. Create a clear and suitable return policy Oftentimes, most returned products are due to a lack of understanding of the return policy. When preparing your eCommerce return policy, write in a conversational and friendly tone that everyone can understand. Setup fraud prevention With the rise of online shopping has also lead to increasing return fraud. Return fraud could be when a customer buys a product and returns it to get financial benefit. It affects your business as you lose money and inventory. To avoid this, you need to set up a fraud prevention system that deals with such situations. You can identify if your business is a victim of fraud return when you receive higher returns than normal, excessive inventory loss, and shrinking margins because of increased returns. Optimize product image and description You won’t want your customers to take a leap of faith when shopping online. Remember, they can’t physically see or touch these products, and the only way they can get a feel of it is through the images and description. To avoid returns, ensure to optimize your product image and description. Get a high-quality camera or hire a professional to produce quality images. Furthermore, you can employ a writer to write a good description for each product. Use automation to avoid mistakes Another effective strategy to handle eCommerce returns is to automate the process to avoid mistakes. Businesses must account for the cost of items sent to a vendor along with the human capital that goes into it. Return can be more effective if the process is automated instead of outsourcing or doing it through the manual process. Therefore, to minimize returns, you should set up a standard process that handles returns. This will genuinely help in streamlining the return process. You can use a chatbot, tracking data, or scan-based return labels to quickly reenter any returned product. Encourage exchanges over returns Instead of just returning the product, you can offer exchange or store credit to help cut return rates while creating new opportunities to increase your sale. Furthermore, this strategy allows you to minimize the monetary loss of returns while improving customer experience. Ask for reviews and feedbacks To deal with future returns, you can ask customers to provide feedback and reviews on why they are returning the product. Through this, you can minimize future events and enhance a better customer experience. For instance, most customers will return a product because it doesn’t fit what they expected. Therefore, through their reviews and feedbacks, you can provide better sizing on your product pages.
Best practices for managing backordered items
Building an eCommerce store is never an easy task because you have to put a lot into it – advertising, building a community and retaining customers. It is fortunate if your store gets numerous orders coming in. however, do you have the capacity to handle these orders? What do you do when the demand surpasses the supply for your eCommerce business? How can you manage the expectation of customers when your supply doesn’t meet their needs? If you ever faced a backorder situation, you will understand that it is not something pleasant. Besides losing valuable time to ship the items, you stand to lose your customers to other businesses. In this write-up, you will recognize the best practices for handling backordered items. Pay only when orders are filled Once you observe your distributor or supplier cannot fulfill the order you place or an unexpected delay beyond the norm, ensure you don’t process any payment pending when the order can be filled. In this situation, you need to consult your credit card company not to accept payment until you fill the order. Provide partial shipment option for backordered items At times, some customers might prefer getting all orders shipped at the same time. However, they would want to ship the available product while they wait for the complete shipment for others. You must decide if to add additional shipping costs or you take the cost. On the other hand, using partial shipment will help you convert customers better. Perform a regular update of the website Peradventure you have a popular product that isn’t available, you can place a message indicating when it will be available. At times, using a simple message such as “backordered” or a specific date can encourage customers to order the item. Product availability and related information should be clear on product pages, in the cart, at check out, and in backorder email. Customers appreciate it when you tell them why a particular product isn’t available and when it will be made available. To make it easier, you can share the information on your social media platforms to create confidence in your brand. Consider providing a consolation offer It is a hectic process to convert a lead to a loyal customer. However, the real job lies in sustaining and retaining that customer to continue the process. However, once you can’t provide customers with the product they want, they might want to go somewhere else to get it. To handle this situation, you can provide a consolation offer while they wait for their product. Offering free shipping, discount, or free gift can serve as an incentive to keep your customer waiting on a currently unavailable product. Perform frequent inventory update If you experience backorder taking place frequently, you can take time to monitor your inventory. Looking through your historical data can help you know when you need to restock your products. Furthermore, you can leverage eCommerce software informing you when you are going low on stock and perform scheduled reordering. Evaluate timeframe for the backordered items Another important practice to handle backorder items is to evaluate the timeframe a wholesaler or distributor can send the item once you run out of it. In this situation, you don’t need to tell your customers you have a backorder since you already know when the goods will be available.
How To Select The Best eCommerce Platform
In 2020, eCommerce sales accounted for 15.5% of total retail sales worldwide, and it’s about to grow even faster. If you’re selling any product, having a website is important if you want to capitalize on the massive sales available online. Fortunately, there are multiple platforms to house your business. The question is how do you scale through to get the best eCommerce platform? Undoubtedly, the online market is competitive, and you need the best platform to stay on top of the game. You should always consider an advanced feature platform that comes without additional costs. Fortunately, there are some criteria to help you determine the most suitable platform. In this write-up, you will discover important things to look out for when selecting the best small business eCommerce platform for your business. Pricing Price is the primary factor most online business owners consider before choosing a platform to house their business. Cost cuts across various things because the platform isn’t free. When using a platform, you’re paying for hosting, PCI compliance, payment system, analytics, fraud protection, DDoS attacks, and many more. However, the pricing model varies across platforms. Thus you’ll need to do some research to clarify your options. Remember, the more functionality you need, the higher the price is. Speed and performance Performance and speed are other considerations when choosing an eCommerce platform. You need a platform that responds quickly when information is required. During holidays or festive periods when the demands are high, you’ll risk losing customers if the platform doesn’t perform in a timely manner. Scalability You might want to start small, but over time, your eCommerce store will scale. It is crucial to choose an eCommerce platform that enables you to grow your customer base. Additionally, you need more than a static page, an ideal platform allows you to customize features. You need to ascertain the kind of support and integration that comes with the software. For example, most brands utilize APIs to automate and personalize their eCommerce stores based on what they require. Ease of use The ease of usage deals with the way you or your team use the platform without technical knowledge. You don’t always have time to learn to code. When you opt for a small business eCommerce platform, you need a platform that comes with easy navigation and is adequately set up. What to look at include: Does it offer a simple installation process? Are the payment and domain name registration easy to follow? Built-in features The final thing to consider is the inbuilt features that come with the platform. When selecting the right small business eCommerce platform, you should look for one that allows add-ons or comes with inbuilt features. Conclusion Choosing an eCommerce platform shouldn’t be taken lightly because it can affect your growth and sales revenue. Therefore, making a decision, ensure to look for features such as speed, performance, ease of use, built-in feature, scalability, and pricing.
