How To Frame Your Return Policy Effectively For Your E-commerce Store
Return policies are a necessary element for any e-commerce store. You can’t totally say a particular sale is completed until the return period expires. As hard as it might be take back goods once they’re sold, returns are one of the most important kind of insurance you offer your customers to get them to trust you. Customer want to be reassured that if they don’t like the product they bought from you, they can return it and avail a refund.
Before you draw up the return policy of your store, you should take a look these pointer that will help you in creating an effective return policy.
Prerequisites
Rule #1: Your return policy should be integrated from the very beginning into your business model. Calculate how much return shipping is going to cost you on an average and incorporate it into your sales policy.
Rule#2: Make your returns simple. Customers shouldn’t have to go through a huge process trying to return merchandise. Your policy should be simple to follow through.
Rule#3: Keep reminding customers of your return policy. Keep reassuring customers customers that they can easily send back your products if they’re not happy with them
Rule#4: Make it easy for international customers as well. If you’ve got an international customer base make your returns easily available to them too. Try to tie up with local postal services that can help customers return their purchases.
How to frame your return Policy?
- Make your policy highly visible
Keep your policy present on all important pages of your website. Make sure you keep a special link in the footer of your site. Your main menu can contain your return policy as well. You could also create a FAQ section on returns and address some common problems regarding returns your customers might have.
The most important thing to do is to include your return policy in all your order confirmation emails. That way customers will constantly be reassured of their purchase and will in turn become loyal to your store.
2. Make it simple to read
Your return policy should be clear and simple to read. This isn’t the place to be verbose and flaunt your linguistic skills. Use simple language, and short clear sentences to convey exactly what and the procedure of returns works.
Legal jargon in your return policies isn’t a good idea. Your customers aren’t used to that language and it might intimidate them out of purchasing your products.
3. Set a definite return period
Obviously your customers can’t return your product after a couple of years of storing it away. So set a definite period of return. Ideally 15–30 days is the return duration during which a customer can fully avail a refund if he’s adhered to the other stipulations like keeping the receipt and the price tags intact.
Communicate effectively exactly what your return period is after which returns will not be valid.
4. Communicate return conditions clearly.
Tell your customers that in order to be able to return a product without any hassles they need to keep up with the conditions. If a customer has purchased a sweater from you, you’ll need to set conditions about how the price tags must not removed, the sweater should not be washed, or damaged, and that the invoice should be submitted.
Make sure the customer know that if the conditions are not met with returns will not be possible. You don’t have to be rude while communicating this. Frame it politely but firmly in your policy.
5. Make the customer aware of payback policies.
A lot of store have a refund to account facility or an in-store credit facility. When the customer requests a return, be sure to inform him of how the refund will take place, how much time it will take and how the money will be returned. Offer him store-credit or a bank transfer. Also be sure to inform the customer of return shipment charges.
These are things you need to keep in mind while framing your return policy. Managing returns can also be a tricky task. That’s why we’ve made handling returns easy in J2Store. Customers can return the entire order of items or just a few items from a particular order and you won’t find it hard to manage all of this.
