Building Relationships with Customers Through Returns

Great retention isn't just about your email flows. It’s your returns experience. Think about it: A customer who returns but feels respected = still a potential repeat buyer. A customer who returns and feels punished = gone forever. Most companies send something cold like: “Your refund is being processed” That doesn’t leave much of a feeling. Here’s a warmer option: Subject: Thanks for giving us a try Body: We get it! Sometimes things don’t work out. That’s on us. If you’re up for it, we’d love to hear what didn’t work. If not, no problem. Thanks for letting us be part of your search. Then, a couple weeks later, you could send: “People who returned [product] often found [alternative product] worked better. Want to check it out?” A return doesn’t have to be the end. Handled right, it can be a fresh start.

Happy returns season! Return rates have been rising for the past ten years and are expected to top 35% this year. This is a massive cost to your brand, how can you reduce them? First the most popular advice going around right now is how to make returns harder.  -Charge a restocking fee -Keep a small returns window -Make them jump through hoops to force an exchange Do not do this. This is what my grandfather called being penny wise and pound foolish. Trying to save some money with combative customer service is only going to hurt you. 1. It doesn’t turn people away from returning, it makes them dig in   2. You will be remembered in their minds as an enemy making a stressful time harder 3. Paying a restocking fee on a gift you didn’t want is going to appear, at best, as greedy. This is a great way to obliterate future sales. What should you do? Make it as easy as possible. Counterintuitive but here is why: Someone looking to scam you is going to do it anyway. You aren’t deterring those people by making it harder. But, making it easier will create a sense of camaraderie and good associations, which you will benefit from down the line when you DO have something this person wants. Retention is notably difficult and one of the better ways to achieve it is to be known as a “good” brand. It is one of the few ways to create real loyalty in a product that isn’t addictive or one-of-one unique. It also makes people want to do you a favor. This is the more important part. If you lean in first, you can then: -Ask for feedback directly -Email more often -Get a better social following -Get better word of mouth This matters because it will help your actual problem, year round return rates. Gift giving season has high returns because it isn’t the user who is shopping. But high seasonal returns are hurting you because you also have high returns year round. To combat that you need to know what the problems are and the best way to get that is by having a good enough relationship with the customers so that they will tell you to your face. You have to give to get and to be able to afford that giving you need to have a year of profits that isn’t tanked by a month of high returns. TLDR: Short term: be super easy to deal with, build up your relationships Long term: fix the root issue (bad web UX, weird sizing, unclear use case etc) #ecommerce #retail #profitability

Why most brands lose customers after the first order. And don’t even realize it. It comes down to these 4 overlooked factors in your returns process: 1. Return = Emotion, not logistics When customers return, they’re not just returning a product. They’re returning an experience, one that fell short. If your return flow feels cold, rigid, or punitive… They won’t come back. Even if they got a refund. 2. Hidden friction kills future purchases Forced emails. Confusing portals. No clear timeline. Each step adds mental drag. The more clicks, the less chance of re-conversion. Fast, self-serve, no-questions-asked returns win loyalty. 3. No post-return nurture = missed CLTV After a return, most brands go silent. But that’s when retention magic should begin. We helped a brand recover 28% of returners with a simple 3-email “win-back” flow. 4. Data black hole Returns are feedback goldmines. But most brands don’t tag reasons or track SKU patterns. Fixing top-3 return reasons improved product margin by 11% for a client in just 60 days. The most surprising finding? Customers who return and buy again often become your most loyal buyers. If you make the process painless, they trust you more. Fix your return experience, and you don’t just lower costs. You increase lifetime value. P.S. What’s one return experience you loved (or hated) as a shopper?