Online shopping on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop is at an all-time high. Unfortunately, so is the rate of product return. Returns cause a major headache for ecommerce business. Whether you are just starting out or been an online seller for years, returns mean time and energy spent processing addtional packages, issuing refunds and trying to keep the process positive for the customer so that they do not run off to one of your competitors as soon as they get their refunds.

So how to reduce your return rate in ecommerce business? In this article, we will discuss 13 actionable strategies that you can implement to reduce returns and increase customer satisfaction.

1. Sell high-quality products

Selling high-quality products is the first and most crucial step in preventing customers from returning merchandise. This is because no tactics can help you if the quality of the products you’re selling is not up to par. By ensuring product quality, you can help customers get to know your brand, encourage them to buy your products, initiate fewer returns, thereby increasing your sales revenue and reducing costs that result from product returns, defects and losses through product quality control. However, great products are just the beginning, the following are the 12 additional ways to boost your customer experience and reduce returns.
 

2. Use accurate product descriptions

One of the biggest reasons why online shopping has a higher return rate than brick-and-mortar stores is that customers can not examine and experience the products in person. This makes customers who purchase a product online more likely to return their purchase if it doesn’t meet their expectations. What Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok sellers can do is to make your product description as accurate as possible. Make sure your product description should give customers as much information as possible. When customers know exactly what to expect from the product they are purchasing, the odds of them being dissatisfied when it arrives are much lower.
 

3. Include high resolution images and videos

Staying on the topic of letting customers know exactly what to expect from the products they are purchasing, there is no element of your product description more important than your product images and videos. Additionally, more than 20% of returns happen because the product looks different in real life than online.

This means it's crucial to make the extra effort to ensure your product images are high quality and give your customers all the information they need to make a purchase confidently. You can use multiple images to show customers what the product looks like from multiple angles. What’s more, It’s also a good idea to use product images that provide content about the product. For example, you can take photos of your products in use to show its intended use. Or, you can take pictures of the product in the hands of the models to give customers a better sense of the size and scale. Even better, you can include product videos to show the product in action.

 

4. Provide detailed sizing information

Incorrect sizing is another big reason for ecommerce returns. This is because common sizing systems, such as small, medium, and large, vary widely between brands and clothing styles.

The easiest way to avoid these returns is to provide detailed size charts that break down each clothing size into specific measurements i.e. shoulder, waist, bust, or hip. It’s also a good idea to indicate the height of the models wearing your products in the images and the size of the product they wear. This will help customers determine the right size for themselves, thereby lowering the return rate as customers will be able to find the right fit for their specific body type.

 

5. Utilize customer service to address concerns

Customer service should be one of the best places to start to lower the high return rate. When customers encounter issues with their purchases and consider initiating returns, such as products not working or not being suitable for their needs, the Chat function in Shopee, Lazada and TikTook Shop will be their first port of call and a great tool to help your customers resolve their issues. How your team is trained to respond in these situations can be the difference between retaining a sale or losing one. By providing prompt and courteous after-sale customer service, you can turn a potential return into a satisfied customer who will continue to buy from your shop.

For example, if a customer talks to you and wants to return an item because of the wrong size, you will get an opportunity to suggest exchanging it for the correct size. As well as retaining the sale, this also helps to build customer loyalty through attentive service.

Furthermore, customer service can also answer questions from customers before their purchases, thereby reducing the number of returns due to misaligned expectations.
 

6. Encourage customers to reviews

Customer reviews are one of the most effective sales tools that Ecommerce stores have, since they provide customers with social proof and an impartial source of information to help them make an informed purchase decision. Encouraging customers to leave reviews can not only boost conversion rate, but also help reduce product returns because it allows customers to better understand the product before making a purchase.

You can send messages to buyers after handing over parcels to the shipping providers and encourage them to leave positive reviews after they receive the orders.

Furthermore, you can add a label note or an image note like “Please Leave Us a Review. Your feedback matters to us!” on your waybill to encourage customer reviews. So your customers will consider giving you good feedback when they see the note on the parcel’s shipping label. How to add a label note or an image note to the air waybill? The Customized Shipping Label feature on BigSeller allows online sellers to implement this through adding a label note and an image note.
 

7. Collect customer feedback

Once return requests are initiated, by asking customers why they are returning products, you can identify recurring issues that lead to your high return rate. This will show customers that you are willing to correct your mistakes and will assure them that when they purchase from you again, they won’t meet the same problem.
With the help of returns data, you can identify customer preferences and patterns in consumer behavior. For example, you will know their preferred colors, materials, or designs that can help you improve your products. Continuous improvements are a proven tactic to lower the number of returns.
 

8. Improve your delivery speed

Delivering your items within your customers’ expected delivery date is a must in online business. The longer the delivery time, the higher the chances that the buyer may choose to return the product. Since sellers are not the one in charge of shipping orders, always remember to state order processing time as well as shipping time when you confirm an order. It’s also a good idea to provide your customers with a source of information should they experience a problem that is beyond your control.

Also, if a shipping provider is always slow in shipping orders and brings lots of complaints to your store, you can contact the platform's customer service and request to change to another logistics company.
 

What’s more, if a customer asks you when the package can be delivered, you can provide him/her with accurate logistics information, so that the buyer will have a rough idea of how long it will take for the package to arrive and will not return the product.

If you are leveraging BigSeller to manage your multi-channel ecommerce businesses, you can easily track the logistics information of orders from different marketplaces on one platform.
 

9. Avoid shipping out damaged or defective products

Damaged products don’t just result in returns, they also harm a store’s reputation. Implementing robust quality control measures is an effective method in lowering the number of returns. Ensure all products are inspected when they are packed to look for damage or defects so that no damaged nor defective product will leave your warehouse.
 

10. Pack with care

Receiving a damaged product is another common reason why online shoppers make returns. Because damage can also occur during the shipping process, see to it that all orders are packaged securely. Some products might not be much of a concern, But if the products you are selling are fragile or prone to damage, such as glassware or car toys, you need to put some extra padding or structural protection like bubble wrap into the packaging to protect them in transit. Reducing the risk of damage during transit can go a long way toward lowering your return rate.

 

11. Identify customers who abuse return policies

The majority who do return products have a legitimate reason for doing so. However, there are those known as “serial returners” or “bogus buyers” who abuse your ecommerce return policy. These dishonest customers purchase products with no intention of keeping them, essentially renting products for free. If you can identify customers who are abusing your return policy in this manner, the best thing you can do is ban them from making further purchases from your store.
 

Or you can use the Buyer Blacklist feature on BigSeller. You can add these dishonest customers to the blacklist of BigSeller. When you receive orders from these buyers again, you can quickly filter these orders and decide whether to cancel their orders or talk to them to confirm the orders and continue to ship out the orders.
 

12. Send package images to buyers

One of the best practices for BigSeller users in reducing product returns is to send videos or images of the picking, packing and shipping process to your customers. This not only proves to buyers that you send out the correct and in-good-condition items, but also preserves the corresponding evidence that you can submit to the platform when filing return claims.

Can not wait to explore this feature?
The Scan to Send Image function on the BigSeller mobile App allows sellers from Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop to take and send package photos to buyers easily and quickly and these images will be auto-saved in BigSeller for 30 days.

Sign up free for a BigSeller account HERE, download the BigSeller app on your phone, and connect your store(s) to use Scan to Send Image right now!

 

13. State your “No Video No Return” policy

There are many bogus buyers/dishonest riders who deliberately replace the orders with stones or irrelevant items. You can design an image at pixel 365x75 and add a note like "NO VIDEO NO REFUND NO RETURN" when using BigSeller to customize your shipping label template. So your customers can clearly see this reminder and record an unpackaging video accordingly.

This can not only help sellers avoid bogus buyers, thereby decreasing the unreasonable returns, but also help you determine who has replaced the package. And then you can report your issues to the platform’s customer service to get help.

Want to have this kind of shipping label? Register a BigSeller account for free HERE and refer to this link to learn how to make customized waybills.
 

Easily manage Shope/Lazada/TikTok returns from one platform - BigSeller

You can manage orders that are returned before and after the buyers sign in BigSeller. When the returned items are received by the warehouse, you can scan parcel barcodes to quickly add stocks back and update new quantities to your online product listings.