With clever return management, satisfy customers and make repeat purchases more likely

How you can maximize efficiency surrounding the processes of merchandise returns, effectively minimize returns, and benefit from additional advantages.

Table of contents
  1. Return management refers as part of customer management to all processes related to the return of goods purchased by customers. This includes both the creation of the correct or legally correct conditions for the processing of complaints at an informational and technical level as well as the return process itself - from its initiation to shipping and final handling in the house.
  2. Good return management has the tasks to recognize possible
  3. In fact, there are specific strategies for all the return reasons listed just now, which keep the likelihood of their occurrence low.
  4. First of all, return management provides companies with useful tools to purposefully plan, control and control in the long term the typical processes around
  5. Return management can be divided into
  6. Return management B2B and B2C differ little in their fundamental goals. In both areas, it is primarily about achieving efficiency in typical return processes and thus saving costs as well as achieving positive effects in customer satisfaction, retention and acquisition. Yet, the
  7. Return management or its must-haves, processes and interrelationships can hardly be brushed over. Each company and each client has its own procedural needs here. Nevertheless, at least
  8. Return management software is usually part of
  9. Return management has a special relevance for B2C. Here, the mostly largely automated sales processes with regard to typical return reasons and their avoidance must be secured more strongly (technically) than in more personal B2B businesses. If everything is done right, the main benefits are efficient and cost-saving return processes. In addition, a positive image and increased chances of follow-up purchases or long-term profitable business relationships are on the line.
More and more people are shopping online – be it clothes, electrical goods or even food. E-commerce has been booming for years. There is no sign of this trend ending, which of course makes the shop operators happy. Less enthusiasm is evoked by the fact that with the steadily increasing online purchases, the returns are drastically accumulating. For typical Internet customers, it has now become
firm part of the expectation, goods not only in the event of damage, but also when they do not like them, just to be able to send back. The associated processes are a significant cost factor for online retailers. Regardless of whether the returns are free of charge or subject to a fee – E-commerce professionals always have increased effort due to them, which adds up.In order to keep the burden or the
number of returns in themselves as low as possible, but still to offer customers the expected service and to react correctly to returns, smart return management is extremely important. If refunds or exchanges are optimally organized, the chance of follow-up purchases and long-term strong business relationships even increases!What return management is made of, how to reduce the risk of complaints and which software helps with relevant to-dos, you can read in this article!
Returns Management Definition: What is Returns Management?

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In general, companies should ensure in the course of return management that buyers find their way around the complaint process well and are offered appropriate options for sending the relevant articles via suitable
shipping service providers. The returned products must eventually be properly recorded and appropriately further treated. The relevant procedures range up to the decision whether a product is to be sold again or destroyed.Comprehensive return management plans, controls and monitors all product returns and ultimately ensures smooth return processes.
This includes - in addition to the smooth operations themselves - other typical benefits and corresponding objectives, which I come to in more detail below. What are possible reasons for returns?

Good return management has the tasks to recognize possible

reasons for returns and in collaboration with other departments, ideally to exclude immediately. Depending on the industry, business orientation, product and customer expectation, the triggers of returns can be very different.More and more often
several items of a certain category are initially acquired and then at home sifted, what they like and what they do not like. Particularly these returns are quite laborious and annoying for companies. Here, the aim is to not keep all goods.In addition, the following facts are among the classics among the reasons for returns:
Damaged product
  • Wrongly delivered goods
  • Incorrect execution
  • Inferior quality
  • Article does not meet the expectation
  • Late delivery
  • No longer interested (impulse purchase)
  • What strategies are there to avoid returns?

In fact, there are specific strategies for all the return reasons listed just now, which keep the likelihood of their occurrence low.

If you as the responsible person of a company
want to avoid returns and thus reduce related costs, you should take primarily the following measures:Describe your products in detail and impressively:
  • The better your customers can get a picture of the goods offered online, the less likely they are to inadvertently buy a product that does not fit their respective wishes or needs. Informative texts, photos, videos and 360-degree views help to create the appropriate conditions. Very good effects can be achieved with augmented-reality features, about which potential buyers can project articles directly into their future environment. But of course this is not possible with every type of goods.Ensure sufficient quality assurance and a precise alignment with your target customers:
  • You should only sell items that have been tested for their function, their general quality and their target group accuracy. If you offer high-quality goods that fully meet the expectations of your typical customers, these will only be returned comparatively rarely.Offer a helpful customer service with purchase advice:
  • Especially before buying more complex products, there are usually questions from potential buyers. Only when these are fully answered are the best conditions created for the ordered goods to really meet their requirements and they will keep them. This of course also applies to simpler articles. So make sure that interested parties can get optimal advice on all possible concerns (apart from standard information) via a well trained support.Perform analyses:
  • If you know your return rate and the reasons that most often lead to returns, you can take targeted measures to counteract them and finally reduce complaints efficiently. So analyse your current status at the returns and better yet ask your customers directly for their opinion.Encourage customer reviews and publish them:
  • Real customers see your products with different eyes than you or your colleagues who deal with them every day. By motivating customers to leave reviews, you can often get very insightful information about what leads to returns. Consider this criticism to do better in the future. In addition, potential customers often orient themselves on such real reviews. They can get important additional impressions here, besides the company-controlled product presentation.Establish automated shipping:
  • With the help of a reliable shipping software, which takes over typical to-dos for the fast, punctual delivery of your goods, you reduce the risk that customers have to wait long for their orders and therefore make returns. Such a solution can also help you to comply with the numerous legal regulations – from the cancellation instruction to the Packaging Law - and thus you are surely avoiding legal problems.What is the aim of return management?

First of all, return management provides companies with useful tools to purposefully plan, control and control in the long term the typical processes around

goods returns and their reduction. The main goal is to ensure as efficient or low-effort and cost-effective processes as possible.A smart, sustainable return management or processes that make returning smoother or even less likely have other positive effects as well. Companies also aim for these when establishing corresponding optimization approaches.
Above all, smooth return conditions generally mean a higher
customer satisfaction. Buyers who are well informed and advised so they do not have to initiate any returns at all, have less work on their part with their purchases or just returning. If still needs to be complained about, this is very easy to do through the return management via online shop or even via a directly delivered return label with description.Both, thus both the reduction of return causes as well as the straightforward processing of returns, also increase the chances that customers will become buyers again and again. An all-around good return service convinces and contributes to the
building of a positive image. This results in regular customers and extremely useful recommendations .What types of return management are there?

Return management can be divided into

two strategies.Preventive return management:
  1. In this area in particular the causes of returns are analysed and measures are explored that can prevent these or at least minimise them.Reactive return management:
  2. Here, people are particularly concerned with how to make returns of ordered goods as efficient as possible – both for the customers and for the companies.What is the difference between B2B and B2C return management?

Return management B2B and B2C differ little in their fundamental goals. In both areas, it is primarily about achieving efficiency in typical return processes and thus saving costs as well as achieving positive effects in customer satisfaction, retention and acquisition. Yet, the

relevance is certainly different.In B2B
buyer relationships tend to be characterized by regular contact. People exchange information personally and often negotiate individual offers that perfectly match the respective customer needs or wishes. Although there must also be the possibility of return here, the probability of complaints is lower. When they come up, everything necessary is initiated directly and quickly.B2C businesses
on the other hand, tend to run more automated and impersonal. Thus, smart return management and the guaranteed integration of all customer-expected conditions in this business area are more important.Practical Example Return Management

Return management or its must-haves, processes and interrelationships can hardly be brushed over. Each company and each client has its own procedural needs here. Nevertheless, at least

three basic steps that should always be considered for successful implementation can be mentioned.Capture the current state:
  1. Analyse the key figures around your returns, ask your customers, consider the procedures of your competitors and deal with common strategies to avoid returns. In the course of this, determine as precisely as possible how much influence returns currently have on your business and where the deficits lie.Identify and implement helpful measures:
  2. It is then a matter of finding out which measures are particularly useful in your company context to optimize the return processes. Implement them one after the other. Fulfillment providers like byrd also offer a self-service returns portal to optimise the process. Check effects and develop further:
  3. If the measures are running, you should keep an eye on their effect. It can certainly be that your customers respond less to steps that are very conducive elsewhere and so you may be wasting resources. To keep an eye on this, it is important not to implement everything at once.Which tools are suitable for return management?

Return management software is usually part of

Return management has a special relevance for B2C. Here, the mostly largely automated sales processes with regard to typical return reasons and their avoidance must be secured more strongly (technically) than in more personal B2B businesses. If everything is done right, the main benefits are efficient and cost-saving return processes. In addition, a positive image and increased chances of follow-up purchases or long-term profitable business relationships are on the line.

Retourenmanagement hat für das B2C eine besondere Relevanz. Hier müssen die zumeist großteilig automatisierten Verkaufsprozesse hinsichtlich typischer Rückgabegründe und deren Vermeidung stärker (technisch) abgesichert werden als bei persönlicheren B2B-Geschäften. Wer alles richtigmacht, profitiert vor allem von effizienten und kostensparenden Retourenvorgängen. Außerdem winken ein positives Image und gesteigerte Chancen auf Folgekäufe bzw. langfristig ertragreiche Geschäftsbeziehungen.
Christian Wittemöller
Author
Christian Wittemöller

Christian ist Absolvent der interdisziplinären Medienwissenschaft (M.Sc.) mit langjähriger Marketing-Erfahrung in unterschiedlichen Industrie- und Agenturdomänen. Während seiner Angestellten-Laufbahn wurde er zum versierten Hands-on-Worker in den Bereichen Content-Marketing, Content-Creation, Redaktion, SEO, Content-Management, Event-Management, Webdesign, Web-Engineering und Web-Controlling. Seit Februar 2017 ist Christian freiberuflich als praxisorientierter Online-Marketer in Vollzeit unterwegs. Seine fachlichen Schwerpunkte liegen auf den Gebieten Content-Marketing bzw. Content-Creation, SEO und praktisch allem, was mit Web-Works zu tun hat.

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