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Tips to Make Retail Returns Easy For Customers
With the rise of ecommerce and everything getting available online, customers are becoming choosier than ever. Thus, if they are happy navigating through your online store, they will simply turn to another one. And so, you will have to make sure that your business is ready to provide them satisfactory services right according to their needs.
One of the options that you can offer to your customers is the easy product returns. As a matter of fact, 92% of the shoppers look for the return options before they make a purchase, and 49% consider product returns very important.
In this scenario, it becomes important for you to consider making the product return option easier for your customers.
Clear instructions on website
It may sound pretty simple but it can be difficult to tell every aspect of your product return policy to your customers. Therefore, you need to arrange those instructions after a considerable thought. And you have to make sure that this return policy is easy to view on your website. Since most of your customers would lead a busy life, you need to make it easier for them to view product return policy on your website.
Communication
After your customers return the product back to you, you need to make sure that you inform them about receiving the product. Moreover, you will need to tell them when they are likely to get the refunds. Remember, it is very important to stay connected with your customers because this communication can help you earn their loyalty.
Return options
You can make things easier by offering different return options to your customers. Some customers would want to return product directly to the store while some would like to send the product back to the company through postal service. You can offer them both options. You can also offer them free returns to encourage them to buy from your store.
Returnable packaging
If you want to secure your products well, you will need to make sure that you are using ideal packaging options. In case you want the product to be delivered back to you safely if your customer wants to return the product, you can use returnable packaging. The best thing about this approach is that your customers will not have to look for the packaging alternates and you will be able to receive your product secured in the type of packaging of your choice. An example of returnable packaging is the addition of a second seal strip which the customers can use to secure the product before returning.
Different Ways to Reduce Packaging Waste
With a large-scale production worldwide, we have got a huge amount of packaging waste to deal with. However, customers, manufacturers and shippers are getting more concerned about the packaging waste being produced.
In this article, we will discuss some ways to reduce the packaging waste for good.
Stretch Reduction
Every pallet needs to be wrapped using a stretch film because this film has proven to be the best packaging materials for securing the entire pallets. However, the amount of stretch film being used in the process has really made things quite complicated from the environmental safety’s concern. The entire film doesn’t remain quite useful after it is taken off from the pallet. The only way left in this regard is the reduction in the usage of stretch film. In this scenario, you can choose low micron performance film instead of the traditional stretch wrap film. You are not going to need many wraps of this film for a pallet to be secured. And so, you will be able to reduce the amount of film used in the process.
Re-engineering of the box
If you want to reduce packaging waste, you need to make sure that you are using packaging materials only in an amount which is absolutely required. For this purpose, the first step is to reduce the size of the box. This way, you will not only be able to reduce the amount of material required in the making of outer packaging but you will also be able to reduce the amount of void-fill required to cushion the product in the packaging. The product will fit in the box quite smugly in this scenario. Another huge advantage is that you will be able to reduce transportation costs. Hence, you will also be playing your role in controlling emissions.
Protective packaging
If you have been using foam or other types of void-fill for the cushioning of items inside the box, you can perhaps shift to the use of air cushioning solutions. You can switch to the use of products, such as Airsac, which is 2% material and 98% air after it is inflated to cushion the items. Modern technologies have been able to reduce the risks of these cushions getting puncture during the transit.
Packing tape
Packing tape contribute to the huge amount of packaging wastes. However, the shippers didn’t have a reliable alternate to packing tape in the past. Now, we have automated gummed paper tape. You can use this tape only in an amount required to pack secure the box. After the box is opened, the tape is not separated.