3 Best Practices for Reducing Product Returns on Your E-Commerce Website
There are a lot of good things that can be said about e-commerce from a shop owner’s perspective but there are also a few problems that can make it difficult to manage. Returns are a genuine nightmare to deal with and when they happen too often things tend to get out of hand ultimately affecting the profitability of a business.
The good news is that there are a few best practices that e-commerce website owners can follow to help buyers make a much more informed purchase and reduce the number of product returns.
Product Descriptions and Photos
Optimising product descriptions is key. One of the most common reasons for product returns is when customers receive a product that didn’t match the photo or description. To prevent misunderstandings about your products include a brief, but informative description, full technical specs, user comments and ratings and multiple product images or even videos.
Reviews and Links to Manufacturer’s Website
Reviews play an important role in helping a buyer make an informed buying decision. By including comments and reviews in product pages, buyers will be able to share their experience which helps new customers feel more comfortable with your products.
Confirming That the Order Is Correct
The number of customers that order a different product than the one intended is surprisingly high. They may accidentally click on the wrong button or forget to remove an unwanted item from the shopping cart. This occurs more frequently than you may realise and can contribute to increased product return rates.
A best practice is to display the contents of an e-commerce shopping cart with the complete order total before processing the transaction. This may seem like a no-brainer, but some e-commerce sites with express check-out skip this step. Also, sending a copy of the order via email would allow the customer to quickly report any discrepancies before products are shipped.
The bottom-line is that in order to reduce product returns from your e-commerce website it is important to ensure that products match the customer’s expectation from online purchase to delivery.
