Returning goods is a very painful and difficult issue to handle. Not only do you have to refund the customer, but the returned goods will also incur shipping costs, tariffs, etc., and it will also reduce the store's reputation and positive review rate. However, returns are unavoidable. Even the best sellers will encounter returns. How to reduce the return rate has become a key issue that cross-border e-commerce sellers need to grasp. So how to reduce the return rate? Let's continue reading.
01. Ensure your product quality
You must ensure that your products are not fakes. Selling fakes is a taboo in cross-border e-commerce. Once discovered and reported, you must be prepared to be punished by the platform. At the very least, the platform will conduct an audit and rectification, and at the worst, the store and account will be closed. The quality of the product is what sellers need to pay most attention to. Quality is the standard reflection of customers' evaluation of your product. You must ensure that your product meets the product description you wrote. Most domestic sellers ship goods from domestic to foreign countries. Before shipping, sellers must conduct a quality inspection on the products to see if there are any problems such as damage, scratches, deformation, etc.
02. Ensure product information is complete and detailed
The actual product must match the description. The discrepancy between the product and the actual description is a very common reason for returns in cross-border e-commerce. Just write the features of the product truthfully. Some sellers, in order to make their products appear high-end and classy, over-describe the product performance and boast about how good their products are, but in reality they are not as good as you described. Little do they know that after the buyers receive the products, they will find that their functions are not as you described, and they will definitely be very angry and ask for a refund and give you a bad review. At the same time, if your product description is too simple, such as electronic products, without describing its precautions and usage tips, etc., the buyers will feel that your product is not easy to use and lacks performance, and will ask for a return on this ground. For example, for some specific products, such as mobile phone cases, you must specify what type of mobile phone this mobile phone case is suitable for. Is the plug European or US? How much memory does the USB flash drive have? Is it 2.0 or 3.0? You must pay more attention to these small details.
It is best to use pictures on the homepage that show the product from multiple angles so that customers can directly understand the approximate overall shape of the goods. It is necessary to photoshop the pictures, but don’t beautify them too much. If there is some color difference in the product color, you can add this sentence in your product description: "There will be some color difference due to shooting lighting, display and other factors, which will not affect the use. Please refer to the actual product received." Inform customers in advance so that they can be mentally prepared.
03. Record and analyze the reasons for customer returns
Make a count of all the reasons for customer returns and analyze them, and organize the reasons for customer returns. This is your own recyclable resource and is priceless. You can classify and summarize these return reasons, find out the problems through these reasons, and optimize your own store. For example, for clothing products, the reason for returns is mostly due to inappropriate size. Clothing sizes in European and American countries are larger than domestic sizes. You can use a combination of pictures and text to write which size is suitable for which group of people, or add a sentence "If you have any questions about the size, please consult the customer for details." We also have this experience when shopping for clothes on Taobao in China. The more detailed the size is, the stronger our desire to place an order is, and the probability of returns will also be reduced.
04. Create a return plan
Clearly state the details of the return, such as the valid reason for the return, the time limit for requesting a return refund, etc. This will allow buyers to clearly know how to apply for a return after shopping before purchasing. If they do not meet the requirements, you can reject their return application. Formulating such a return plan will help reduce the chances of customers returning products without reason or without cause. For example, a customer buys something on impulse and then suddenly doesn't want it anymore and wants to return it; after buying, the customer finds that other stores have the same product at a cheaper price, so he wants to return the product and buy it from another store; the customer buys according to his own standards (for example, he finds that a piece of clothing suits his temperament and is very beautiful, but there is no size that suits his size, but he still buys it), and after receiving the goods, he finds that he cannot use them and asks for a return; the buyer buys the wrong product due to negligence, and the loss to the seller is small before the product is shipped, but if the product is in transit or has arrived at the destination country, the seller's loss will be large; malicious competition from peers or real buyers, some buyers will shop frequently and then frequently refund. If you encounter this situation, you must report it to the platform. Whether it is a malicious competition from peers or real buyers, they will be punished once verified; the logistics is slow, the customer's waiting time exceeds the expected delivery time, and the customer is unwilling to continue waiting and wants to return the product. The seller can inform the customer of the expected arrival time before shipping, or use overseas warehouses for shipment, or give the seller coupons or partial refunds as compensation to dispel the buyer's idea of returning the product.
Sellers’ returns will directly affect the store’s image and sales, affect performance, and cause customer loss, but returns are inevitable. What we need to do is to reduce the return rate, minimize the return cost, reduce capital outflow, and maintain the brand and store image. Have you got the above knowledge points?
