By Kevon Hills, StellaService
With more consumers buying gifts online this past holiday season than ever, retailers have been managing what is likely a massive rush of post-holiday returns both in-store as well as online. Retailers who have made a 2017 New Year’s Resolution to iron out kinks in their omnichannel strategies can start early by investing in their return experience.
Returns offer an ideal opportunity to build trust with first-time customers, which can help to turn one-time purchasers into loyal long-term customers. If a customer has a poor experience, they’re likely to not come back. In addition to customer implications, return policies and practices have an integral impact on retailers’ bottom line. Factors such as speed to not only return the item, but also to process and restock an item for reselling, can impact retailers’ margins.
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While it was okay for consumers to wait two weeks for a refund years ago, companies like Amazon and Wayfair now offer instant refunds and “first scan” refunds, respectively, which credit a customer’s account even before an item is received back at the warehouse. Most retailers still require an item to be back in-hand before a refund can be processed. Omnichannel retailers can speed up that process by encouraging in-store returns — the customer benefits from an immediate refund, while the retailer benefits from the ability to resell the item more quickly than if it had been put in the mail.
Facilitating return transactions in-store means a faster, simplified exchange for both consumers and retailers, and opens the door for retailers to recapture what might have been lost revenue or upsell: 20% to 50% of in-store returns result in the customer leaving with something else. Utilizing an omnichannel strategy can help drive customers to stores and recapture otherwise potentially lost revenues.
Having the right omnichannel return strategy isn’t enough. It needs to be communicated to customers at every phase in the return process to ensure opportunities are realized. Customers that made the purchase online or received the item as a gift could be unfamiliar with the physical store, and therefore need additional communication points to feel confident about their in-store return. Here are a few tips for retailers on how to optimize the omnichannel experience.
Stage One: Decision to return
Once a customer decides the item needs to be returned retailers need to provide clear instructions, on both the packing slip and online, that advocate the benefits of an in-store return. After all, how good is an omnichannel strategy if it isn’t communicated to customers?
Stage Two: In-store guidance
Once a customer comes to the store, provide clear instructions at the entrance on where to go to return the item – whether it is a dedicated area, a customer service desk or a standard register. This can be communicated with signage or through a greeter.
Stage Three: Manage the lines
Ensure register lines are being effectively managed, offer the right number of registers for returns, and consider having a dedicated returns line or area.
Stage Four: Associate interactions
Train associates thoroughly. Associates should be trained on everything from handling e-Commerce returns to online versus in-store return policies; any discounts or incentives; and even the possibility of different SKUs for items purchased online versus in-store. Ensure responses are consistent between associates, and that customers are receiving the same information regardless of the associate they speak with.
Kevon Hills is SVP of Operations and Insights for StellaService’s Stella Metrics product. In his role, Hills leads the teams that collect objective customer care and fulfillment data, and turns the data into deep, actionable insights that help companies improve their service operations and make more informed strategic decisions. He is regularly quoted as an industry thought leader across national news, broadcast and trade outlets.
