How costly are your returns?
Returns are an expensive, but necessary, part of any retail business. The trick is to manage the process efficiently, and turn an irritation into an opportunity.
Many eCommerce businesses face higher rates of return that bricks and mortar retail, but in a world where omnichannel and Unified Commerce are becoming the norm, all retailers need to address this problem.
Unified Commerce platforms like OMNIS Retail retain all of your customer, order and product information in one database. You can use these to weed out fraudulent returns, upsell your customers and improve retention.

RMA by Iconography
You can turn a proper Returns process into a net gain for your business, provided your RMS can support you in the right way.
Would you like to know more? ›Returns; a problem or an opportunity?
Returns rates can turn a profitable business into a loss maker, and companies have to account for that in their planning. In store, experienced and well trained salespeople can keep returns and exchanges to a minimum, helping customers check the fit, experience the look and feel of a product, or just advise on its suitability to the customer. However, rates of eCommerce returns tend to be a lot higher. Worse, experienced eCommerce trader quickly see that rates of return will vary depending on product or brand, but the biggest variance is between product types.
The rate of eCommerce returns on electricals and homewares tends to hover around 10%, but in fast fashion, returns can easily reach 40%, as customers order multiple sizes to ‘try before they buy’, simply returning those that don’t fit. That leaves you in the retailer footing the bill for the delivery of items that the customer was never going to keep, as well as the cost in manpower of sorting and restocking the returned goods.
How much revenue is lost to returns? The answer is always more than anyone would want, but what many retailers don’t consider is how much they’re losing by not having a flexible returns policy. With two thirds of customers actively reading returns policies before purchase, you can’t afford to scare anyone off. Customer service is one of the ways that retailers can distinguish themselves online, so whether it’s guaranteed refunds, or free shipping labels, you need to consider how best to serve your customers.
If you’re worried about the escalating cost of returns, simply remember that 95% of customers who are happy with a returns process will place repeat purchases. On the flip side, shoppers who don’t like your returns process are three times as likely to abandon you for your competitors.