Retailers offering a clearly advertised, simple to use returns solution can significantly increase in product shipments. The idea here is to reduce buyer anxiety and make the decision to purchase easier – “I can easily send it back”. It’s certainly more hassle for the retailer but this will reduce friction on checkout and there are often fewer returns than you’d expect. Although the number of people that actually do return items will depend from industry to industry. The ratio of additional sales to cost of dealing with the additional returns can still provide a significant boost to revenue.
65% of a company’s business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep an existing one satisfied.
– Gartner, Inc.
Customers are more likely to reuse retailers who provide a hassle free returns experience. Providing a simple to use returns solution on your website boosts customer loyalty. And keeping your existing customers ensures continuing sales with no additional marketing costs.
And how about free returns? In a ShopRunner/Harris Interactive study of over 2,800 online consumers, 81 percent of survey respondents stated that they are less likely to make additional purchases on Web sites that charge for return shipping. Therefore the cost of free returns can often be outweighed by additional sales.
Exigen’s Iridium solution provides a quick and easy way to add returns to a website. A returns widget is provided that can be inserted, and be running, in an existing website in a matter of a few days. Shipments are booked immediately with the carrier, so there is no overhead for the retailer. The carrier documentation (shipping waybills) are automatically created and sent to the customer. A management system is provided for configuring all shipping options and monitor return shipments.