Point of No Returns: How to Ensure Your Retail Brand is Ready for Return Culture

It’s a fantastic time to be a consumer. Never before has so much choice been available to us, with a variety of channels, delivery options, ways of shopping, payment options and even discounts. In fact, we now approach online shopping with the same approach as trying things on in changing rooms – we can take in as many items as we like, try them on and return the items we don’t want to buy, all without having to pay a single penny. However, even better than a changing room experience is that this can now be done in our own homes, all without getting hot and bothered or even having to queue to wait for an available cubicle to become free. All this and throw in a free – and often speedy – delivery service and where once online orders might have been arduous and with tricky returns processes, now the shopping experience has evolved.

Many consumers have become used to ordering lots of items from a variety of stores, to find the perfect item or fit and then to return the surplus. The ease with which this is done has been a big spur to many people ordering online; it’s ok to ‘risk’ buying something you haven’t physically seen as you know it can be easily returned if you don’t like it. The downside, of course, is that each returned product is an inconvenience to retailers. But, with a well-rounded customer experience being crucial to a retailer’s success, what’s the solution?

Make sure product information is accurate

A common reason a customer will give for returning an item is that it isn’t as they were expecting or that it didn’t fit correctly. The best way to reduce the likelihood of this happening is to ensure that all the product information is as accurate and consistent as possible. The easiest way to do this is via dedicated retail IT software such as a Product Information Management (PIM) solution, which ensures that all content is enriched across the many channels a consumer uses, that information updates occur simultaneously and that everything happens in real time. The more information given to the customer, the less likely they are to be dissatisfied and see a need to return.

Ensure good warehouse management is in place

It’s vital to have a structure in place that allows items to be processed and dealt with efficiently in order to reduce the impact they have on a functioning business. A warehouse management system (or WMS) updates what stock is in the warehouse following returns and is important as ensuring that it is labelled, identified and stored correctly, so that it is immediately ready for re-sale. With a single-view of stock, Merret Pro ensures that this happens, increasing the chances of selling items at full price.

Ensure mistakes don’t happen

We’re all human and with the necessity for speed to market, mistakes can – and do – happen. However, you can minimise these and also increase your speed to market at the same time. How? PIM gives one point of entry, to avoid using multiple versions of similar spreadsheets, whilst also having a 360-degree view of product data so that all steps of the product information process are visible. Each product then needs appropriate sign off before the data is published to the desired digital selling channels, meaning that any gaps in data are highlighted.

Don’t let returns give you a big headache – talk to us to find out how we can make it a smoother process.