How Do You Prepare Your Returns Process for the Holidays?

The busiest time of the year is just around the corner. For most online stores, Black Friday, Sinterklaas, and the holidays mean a massive boost in sales, but they also bring a high volume of returns and the potential for a significant increase in workload.

How can your online store handle this smartly? How do you maximize sales while minimizing the loss of revenue and time caused by returns? 

Holiday madness: A few stats 

Both sales and return volumes skyrocket during the holiday season. Research by Shopify shows that as many as 30% of online orders are returned during this period. For fashion, this figure can even climb above 50%.

January 2nd is known as the ultimate day for returns. This year in the UK, the day was even dubbed ‘Takeback Thursday,’ resulting in an average of 72% more returns than on an average day.

Stress-free holidays 

Fortunately, this peak in returns doesn't have to lead to chaos and losses for your webshop. In fact, by responding strategically to the rush, you can significantly limit returns or even turn them into new sales.

We recommend that every online store enters the holiday season well-prepared and considers the following tips for higher revenue, satisfied customers, and a stress-free team.

Make exchanges more attractive than returns 

Because many consumers shop for friends and family during the holidays, there is a higher-than-normal chance that products will be ordered that aren't quite right or don't fit. This is hard to prevent, and an increase in returns is a reality for most online stores.

However, a return doesn't have to be final. To avoid losing revenue, it is highly recommended that your online store actively promotes exchanges. 

You can do this by, for example: 

• Offer to ship the replacement item immediately upon exchange, rather than waiting for the original item to be returned. 
• Offer free return shipping for exchanges. If the customer chooses not to exchange, they pay for the return shipping themselves. This creates a clear incentive to keep browsing your webshop.
• Offer an extra discount or a coupon to customers who order a replacement product when returning an item. 
  

The more attractive you make the exchange process, the more customers you will retain and the more revenue you will ultimately generate. Returnista helps you make exchanges available within your returns process. With our integrations for all major platforms, we can instantly provide a suitable exchange suggestion based on the chosen return reason. For example, if the product is too big, we immediately check real-time stock for a smaller size. This way, you retain a large number of customers. 

Use a digital return form

Keep the return process as simple as possible. As we wrote in our previous blog about optimizing the return process , a simple return process results in more sales and saves a webshop a lot of time and money. 

A great way to simplify the return process is by using a digital return form. This is an online form that can be easily linked to your webshop via Magento 2, Shopify, Lightspeed, or a custom integration, allowing the customer to register a return online in just a few minutes. 

A digital return form has significant advantages. For example:

• All data is centrally and digitally registered and easy to retrieve.
• Deadlines, such as a final return date, are applied automatically. If this date has passed, the customer simply cannot register a return anymore. This is a simple step to reduce returns.
• Online registrations make it easy to collect data and analyze patterns. In addition, product-level return reasons help you gain better insight into why a product is returned so frequently. 
• An online return form makes it easy to offer special deals during the return registration process. For example, consider the previously mentioned promotions to encourage exchanges. 
• An opportunity to provide service when needed. If a customer indicates during the return process that they have received a defective product, this is the perfect moment to win them back with a replacement product and/or a free return.  
• Offering printerless options, where the customer receives a barcode on their phone, making printing labels a thing of the past.
  

Returnista is happy to help you get a grip on your return process. Take a look at this page to see which features might be of interest to you.

Reduce customer contact with clear online communication  

Have you decided to adjust your return policy during the holidays? Make sure all new rules and deadlines are clearly communicated across as many channels as possible.

Post important information on your website, on social media, and send it out via email. 

For example: 

“Want to have your purchase in time for Christmas Day? Place your order before December 22nd at 11:00 PM”. 

Or: 

“Want to exchange your product? Between December 15th and January 15th, we will ship your replacement item immediately, rather than waiting until we receive your returned item.”  

Such notifications not only significantly reduce the number of customer inquiries but also drive additional orders. After all, when customers see a deadline approaching, they are more inclined to order immediately. 

Offer insurance for expensive gifts 

Gifts ordered during the holiday season can be expensive. If products are damaged during the return process, the customer is held responsible. As an online store, it can therefore be wise to proactively offer insurance. This helps you avoid dissatisfied customers and increases the likelihood of repeat orders. 

Insurance can easily be integrated into a returns portal and is more affordable than you might think

Analyze and prepare for next year 

Especially during busy periods, it is extremely important to collect as much data as possible and analyze what is working well and what is not. After all, the more you learn about the flow of your return process, the more effectively you can optimize it. You will benefit from this all year round

Therefore, keep close track of the following data: 

• The number of orders and returns per day 
• Which products are returned and which are not
• The reasons for a return 
• Which special offers (e.g., a coupon) customers respond to and which they do not 
• Which customer questions frequently come up with customer service
• What customers are happy with and what they are not 
• The challenges your webshop staff face during the holidays
  

All this data is stored in the Returnista dashboard made insightful.

Get ready for the holidays with Returnista  

Need help setting up your returns process for the holidays? With Returnista, returns are no longer a pain point. Increase customer satisfaction and reduce your costs. Do you want a returns portal that matches your webshop's branding, just like Decathlon, Loavies, and Asos? Then request a demo on our website.