How the Right Returns Management System Can Be Crucial to Solidifying Customer Loyalty

Almost everyone has made a purchase they weren’t happy with, but for some, the stress of returning an item just might not be worth their time, effort and frustration. There’s always someone who opts to keep that product instead of returning it, even though they’re unhappy with their purchase. In fact, studies show the frustration consumers have during a retail experience aligns with the same level of stress someone has when stuck in traffic.

E-commerce, at its core, exists to make consumers’ lives easier, but difficult processes can turn them away from businesses to which they may have previously been loyal. Retailers are in a position where they must make the process of returning a product a transaction that causes as little irritation as possible. When returns are done correctly, they provide an opportunity to showcase customer service, and a positive customer experience is absolutely essential to securing loyal clientele along with maintaining it.

As it stands, many e-tailers attempt to manage their reverse logistics flow through traditional warehouse management software, but it's simply not designed to efficiently handle returns. 

Integrating Ease Into the Process

Retailers that integrate a seamless, end-to-end returns management system (RMS) can increase customer loyalty while also differentiating themselves from others in terms of profit and consumer satisfaction. A cloud-based SaaS solution, a RMS manages an entire returns process and can be fully integrated with other solutions to provide important insights into consumer returns behavior and trends.

Each system is uniquely based on the needs of a particular business, and all analytics it provides gives companies the ability to get ahead of potential challenges. Additionally, operations can be updated anytime to align with consumer feedback. It can ensure every return is a positive and seamless experience.

When looking for a RMS, it’s important e-commerce retailers seek out user-friendly software that has automated communication capabilities. Doing so ensures there's complete consumer visibility, and they're informed throughout the entire process. It should be a priority to provide customers with the ability to initiate, track and manage their returns without having to contact a customer service department.

With a RMS, a retailer can get items returned quickly and put back in inventory for resale. It also deploys recovery efforts to reduce inventory waste and help lessen returns’ financial and environmental impact by assisting with recycling, repackaging and restocking. When a return process contains a clear set of rules for restocking, returns can be completed faster and allows for items to maintain their high value while also keeping them out of a landfill. This can be realized by incentivizing customers to use local return locations to minimize emissions and gain higher resale probability based on seasonality and demographics. With many consumers now being more cognizant of how these processes might affect the environment, it’s an important piece to consider when it comes to showing customers how simple and sustainable a business can be through its returns process.

The Overall Customer Experience

Ultimately, customer satisfaction and driving returning clients can be the most important parts of any business. A digital, end-to-end RMS provides an easy, practical and effective way to maximize productivity and greatly strengthen the customer experience as a whole. This better enables organizations to create customers who are happy with their experience and likely to return again and again. In the current e-commerce marketplace, having an efficient returns system is absolutely crucial to keep customers happy and thereby keeping business successful for years to come.

Gaurav Saran is CEO of ReverseLogix, the only provider of end-to-end, centralized, and fully integrated returns management systems built for retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, and 3PL organizations.