How your Return Policy can affect customer retention

It is a proven fact that around 60% of customers check the return policy on a site before purchasing any item. Return Policy forms the core to any online business set up that involves selling and purchasing. Specific features of your return policy can make or break your sale. Return policy hence has a direct impact on the post purchase behaviour of a business.

What is Post Purchase?

Once your ecommerce business is on the go, it is essential to analyse the user’s behaviour post a purchase. Are they satisfied with the product? Was the purchasing experience a good one? Were they kept informed about the whereabouts of their order/s? Everything that they feel and then act upon like if they decide to shop from you again, spread the word about your services all determine the customer retention.

Hence Post Purchase is a behaviour that describes the way a customer thinks, feels and acts after buying something. This is when the customer is assessing whether the experience was a good or an unsatisfactory one, this in turn determines their return or retention.

Understanding consumer behaviour is very important for the success of the products or the launch of new ones. Failure to understand the behaviour of the customer post purchase of a product can result in the product failure.

The experience of one customer can certainly affect the rest as it is natural for a particular customer to rave about a certain purchase. Therefore, providing your customers with the best experience can become a game changer for the good.

A well thought Post Purchasing Market can:

·         Ensure the users confidence and trust in you

·         Make your customers feel good and satisfied about their purchase with you

·         Overall increases the sale in your business as the customers will keep wanting to buy from you

Return Policy as an integral part of Customer’s Post Purchase Journey

Return Policy plays a major role and is a very important pillar of the Post Purchasing journey. Giving your customers a seamless and hassle-free return policy can speed up your business and sales tenfold.

Positive impact of a good Return Policy:

·         A lucid and well stated returns policy wins the confidence, trust and security of the customers

·         Such return policies also acts as a great marketing tactic as it increases engagement, leading to loyalty that results in more buyers

·         A good returns policy expands their business not just online but also in stores thereby bringing manifold profit

·         Such Policy helps in maintaining a healthy and happy relationship with the customers that is the set goal of any business. Happy customers, happy business!

Essentials to a good Return Policy:

Just simply laying out a return policy isn’t enough to help your business boom. Here are some tips to a good and well planned returns policy-

·         Simplistic Language

While stating your returns policy ensure that it is simple and easy to understand. Doing this avoids any future confusion for both you and your customers. This will convince them that your interests are customer oriented and you are not trying to baffle them into submission.

Most importantly avoid the use of complicated words and phrases, which will in fact bear fear and hesitance in your customers.

·         Return Conditions

Decide and be clear under what conditions your company will be accepting returns. Not having this will result in customers returning used or even broken products. This is where clear and precise language also comes into play.

·         Status Update emails/SMS

Keeping your customers on the loop about their returns or as a matter of fact orders is crucial. Constant updates on such matters wins over the trust and security of the customers. When there is a situation of a delay, how do you inform your customers? Sometimes, delays caused by reasons not under your control can cause frustration among the customers. In such cases when the return order isn’t fulfilled within ‘X’ number of days, push out an email/SMS informing the customer about the delay.

·         Clear the air about the steps for return

The main goal is to simplify and minimize the steps the customer takes to initiate a return. Spare them the hassle of filling up forms, courier the items themselves and even pay for the shipping. Let them initiate a return via your website/app or a platform of similar sort like Return Prime to speed up the process.

·         Time Limit

Decide on the time frame to allow your customers to request for a return. This is completely up to you but most e-commerce companies avail somewhere between two weeks and a month.

Besides, it is also important to stick to your time limit, to get the returns process done within the time frame you have set for yourself. Make a good impression with punctuality as time is of the essence.

Therefore, understanding post purchase behaviour is of the essence in delivering a satisfactory and well planned returns policy for your customers. Set up your policies from a customer point of view thereby catering to both yours as well as their needs.