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Online orders are growing fast. Online sales has increased as a result of the health crisis, but not only: it is a societal trend. According to Fevad, the e-commerce sector was worth more than €129 billion in France last year, an increase of 15.1% throughout the year.
But product returns are a pain for e-retailers. With the rise of online commerce, there is definitely a proportionally high rate of returns that involves management costs. Product returns therefore reduce your conversion rate and threaten the balance of your business model.
The most returned products in France and Europe are clothes and electronics.
According to a study by Statista, in France, over the year 2021, the return rate of packages was of 39%.
According to Barclaycard studies, the different reasons for product returns are as follows:
- 59% of returns concern damaged or defective products.
- 42% of returns are due to changes of mind due to lack of information
- 29% concern misleading or incomplete descriptions
Therefore, brands must focus on the quality of their product information. So what can you do to limit customer product returns?
5 solutions to limit product returns
A full product description
Each product sheet should have a wealth of information. Ideally, you should be able to convince the consumer to buy the product based on the picture and description alone! Make sure that you did not forget anything: the product features, some advice on how to use the product or the supplementary information about complementary products for example. Finally, you can add PDFs to give the instructions for use and the technical data sheet of the product.
Attractive product cards
The product sheet can be illustrated with images and demonstration video. For example, you can add a product with several photos from different angles. Videos will help the customer to see how it will be to purchase the product. With all this information, your customer will feel reassured, he will have all the information about the product which will prevent him from making a wrong purchase.
Immediate answers
Your customers enjoy relate to people, with the brand team for example, it make them feel better. To put the stress on this feeling, you can add a small FAQ as an accordion to answer questions that are the most frequently asked.
You can also add a chat on the website, so messages will come straight to the customer service of your company who will take the time to answer personally.
Customer reviews
We all want to be reassured before purchasing a new product, especially if it is from a brand we are new to. That's why there are many forums for consumers to have their say on their experience of buying from your shop. Your customers are fed by these reviews to decide whether or not to buy.
We advise you to leave a few customer reviews underneath the product sheets on your e-commerce site. Future customers can also find answers to their questions through other customers who have already purchased the products. Usually customer reviews can be collected on Facebook if you are present on social networks and on the Google search engine, on your Google my business page. But there are other platforms like Trustpilot to collect customer reviews.
Live shopping experience
Live shopping is a new way of selling that many e-commerce players have already adopted. Thanks to Live Shopping, you can show your products to your customers through a video and answer all their questions live to reduce the return rate. Rather than just viewing the product sheet, your customers are immersed in an experience in which they can “see” themselves with this new product.
In addition to this live solution, Live me up Live Shopping platform offers self-publishing of your replays on your website. Your customers will be able to watch your live videos at any time and buy a product from this live video. In addition to decreasing your return rate, live shopping will boost your sales and give your business a new lease of life.
Your customers will feel listened to and will be delighted to be able to buy your product in a new experience.
The keys to success for our customers
Finally, we will share with you some tips on how to reduce the number of products returns and reassure your customers to make a purchase with no fear.
All of your products showcased on your online shop are detailed with the help of product sheet descriptions. In your product sheets, you can insert several photos and/or videos to show more details from different angles, or important features ( that the competitor’s products don’t have).
Your photos should be of excellent quality! Your customers should be able to see all the details of your product so that they are not surprised when they receive their package.
Your products are intended for a well-defined target audience. An inaccurate description will not help you to sell. You must describe your product accurately and honestly. Otherwise your product return rate will never decrease !
Even though it is very easy to return a product, and your shop should obviously allow you to do so, guide your strategy differently because there are many solutions to ensure that your customers are satisfied from the first time they receive their package!
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