Optimizing Ecommerce Returns

Every year, ecommerce retailers spend thousands of hours and dollars on optimizing their purchasing and unboxing experience. While streamlining the buying experience is very important, ecommerce businesses often sideline what happens if the product just didn’t fit the customer’s needs.

For an ecommerce retailer, returns are simply the cost of doing business. According to NRF, 30% of all products ordered online are returned compared to only 8% of those purchased at brick-and-mortar stores.

In a recent Shippo survey, 54% of shoppers said that free returns is a large decision factor when comparing different merchants. Diving even deeper, 34% of shoppers said that they will only purchase items if they know that they can ship them back for free. However, only 14% of retailers offer free return shipping, and a whopping 60% make absolutely no effort to help consumers ship the returns back.

Building a streamlined returns process is a great opportunity for ecommerce brands to gain a competitive advantage over the competition.

While returns are unavoidable, businesses can take steps to minimize the operational headaches and impact on the bottom line.

Shippo is a multi-carrier API and web app that helps retailers, marketplaces and platforms connect to a global network of carriers. Businesses use Shippo to get real-time rates, print labels, automate international paperwork, track packages and facilitate returns. Shippo provides the tools to help businesses succeed through shipping.