There is extreme competition in the eCommerce sector, and platforms try to offer various services and discounts to enhance the online shopping experience for their customers. One of the ways to improve customer experience is by providing them with return options. eCommerce returns are a double-edged sword that makes every online business face chaos.
Now, this must be an add-on for the customer, but the realities are grave for the seller, and to reduce RTO in ecommerce, sellers try to implement various strategies. If a retailer wants to be profitable in the eCommerce market, they need to focus on reducing the RTO cost to increase their profit margins.
It is widely known that reducing RTO requests to zero is impossible, but businesses focus on taking care of a few things that can optimize and reduce the RTO charge. However, we need to understand it in detail to achieve significant RTO reduction. So, here we go-
What Is RTO In eCommerce?
RTO or Return to Origin majorly refers to the process in which an order never reaches the end customer and is returned to its origin or sent back to the warehouse for various reasons. RTO is the non-delivery of a courier to its buyer and its return to the seller.
How Does Cash On Delivery Lead To RTO Losses?
According to a report by TOI, “nearly 70% of eCommerce customers prefer cash on delivery as their payment method. This percentage goes up to 90% for online buyers in rural India.” Along with cash on delivery comes the challenge of RTO. 1 out of every 3 COD orders are returned to the seller. Let’s understand the reasons that lead to this.
What Are The Common Reasons For RTO In eCommerce?
- Unavailability of the customer to receive the package.
- Delivering the wrong product.
- Difference between displayed (on the website) and delivered product.
- Incorrect address/contact details of the customer.
- Product failing to match customer expectations.
- Courier company’s negligence or human error.
Ways To Reduce RTO For Your eCommerce Business
Clear Product Information With Images
One of the significant reasons for returns and cancellations is that the customers are not sure about what they are ordering. And sometimes, the products look different from what they look like in the online pictures. This leads to customers buying the products they didn’t have accurate information about and then returning the product to the seller after finding it different from what they expected it to be.
To avoid this, sellers need to provide accurate and clear product descriptions to build brand loyalty and awareness to ensure that the customers receive what they ordered or what they saw online while ordering.
Encourage Customer Reviews
Encouraging customer reviews is a great practice as feedback helps you fix problems and loopholes and, at the same time, helps you to run your operations smoothly. Also, positive customer reviews help build trust in prospective customers’ hearts.
Many customers in today’s time rely on reviews from previous customers and believe the testimonials mentioned on the website to make their purchase decision, and this can significantly reduce RTO for your business.
Provide Proper Tracking Details
Tracking plays a huge role in enhancing customer satisfaction. All you need to do is update the tracking page consistently so that the customers can keep track of the product they have ordered. Updates through email, SMS, or WhatsApp help to gain customers’ confidence and reduce the chances of returns and cancellations.
Correct Contact Details
Make sure that the contact information shared by the customer is correct, including their contact details, address and pin code. It is paramount to figure out the authenticity of the information provided by the customer.
Provide Faster Delivery Of Products
People order multiple things online, and delayed delivery of products can force them to change their minds, and that’s when another product goes into RTO.
According to a report by Conveyco, “41% of customers are willing to pay more for same-day delivery while 24% will pay extra shipping charges if the product is delivered within one or two hours.”
Final Thoughts
There is no bulletproof way to avoid returns from happening. However, sellers can have a practical plan that could lead the business to reduce RTO most efficiently.
Also, as customers shop online and expect a certain level of customer service or post-purchase experience, the return option is extremely important for them, or they will fear the risk and won’t buy the product.
