Dresses and Returns: Tips for Shop Owners
Returns can make or break your online store.
Although there are a large number of challenges for online retaillers when it comes to dress exchanges, the good news is that there are some basic guidelines that you can follow to reduce your returns rates and increase your business bottom line.
There are a number of reasons that a customer may return a dress purchased online to you.
One of the most common of these is that it does not fit, but others include they did not like the style or colour, or that there was a fault that you did not see before you sent it out to them.
It's unfortunate, but there are also a small number of people out there that will try to use your online dresses shop as a hire service, buying a dress from you, wearing it out, and then either trying to exchange it for another or sending it back as faulty and asking for a refund.
What's worse is that there are even websites on the Internet where these types of people share tips on how others can get away with this wear-n-return approach to dresses.
These deliberate returners can put a real drain on your business, so it's worthwhile investing a bit of money into the checking process before you send items out.
Document the garment and any faults before it goes and if you can take photos of the main things like stitching that people will try to damage to get a return.
It's a real pain to have to do this, and can slow down your processing and dispatch of goods, but it can really save you when these people come back and ask for a refund on an item you know was perfect when it was sent out.
It's hard to say something was faulty when you have photo evidence that it wasn't.
Reducing the returns rate for changes of mind or changes of size can be addressed through some of the following tactics:
Check items carefully and remove the ones that you would not send out at that time, rather than waiting until the item is sent out.
If you have a large product range it may not be possible to check everything but regular random sampling can help greatly in this regard.
Build up a good rapport with your supplier, and if you can ask them to check orders before they send them to you.
Returns cannot be totally eliminated when you are selling dresses, but the rates can be significantly lowered so that they don't affect your bottom line.
By following the above general guidelines for our online dresses shop, we keep our rate of returns and exchanges at low levels that our management is very happy with.
These guidelines can be used by both online and offline retailers - selling dresses and other products too.
Although there are a large number of challenges for online retaillers when it comes to dress exchanges, the good news is that there are some basic guidelines that you can follow to reduce your returns rates and increase your business bottom line.
There are a number of reasons that a customer may return a dress purchased online to you.
One of the most common of these is that it does not fit, but others include they did not like the style or colour, or that there was a fault that you did not see before you sent it out to them.
It's unfortunate, but there are also a small number of people out there that will try to use your online dresses shop as a hire service, buying a dress from you, wearing it out, and then either trying to exchange it for another or sending it back as faulty and asking for a refund.
What's worse is that there are even websites on the Internet where these types of people share tips on how others can get away with this wear-n-return approach to dresses.
These deliberate returners can put a real drain on your business, so it's worthwhile investing a bit of money into the checking process before you send items out.
Document the garment and any faults before it goes and if you can take photos of the main things like stitching that people will try to damage to get a return.
It's a real pain to have to do this, and can slow down your processing and dispatch of goods, but it can really save you when these people come back and ask for a refund on an item you know was perfect when it was sent out.
It's hard to say something was faulty when you have photo evidence that it wasn't.
Reducing the returns rate for changes of mind or changes of size can be addressed through some of the following tactics:
- Include a fit guide that has measurements in it.
Make sure you draw attention to the fit guide on your website as people have a horrible habit not to read anything before they buy. - Make it easy for customers to ask questions about garments.
Include an ask a question form on your website, for example. - Take close up photos or back shots of your dresses and include them on your product description pages.
Many people can't decide if they like something until they see it, so the more of the product they can see, the lower your chances of returns. - If the product is a well known brand that is also available at department stores, then state the brand.
People will then know whether they can fit that item, by either going to a stockist that sells that brand and trying a garment on, or from their own previous experience. - Look at your product photos against the garment - do they match in colour that well? If not take a swatch photo of the actual colour of the garment and include it on the product description so that there are no surprises for your customers.
- Keep buying styles that are selling, and clear out items that are not.
The more people that like your product range, the better they will sell and the fewer will come back to you.
If you do find a style that is absolute rubbish and upsets a customer, take it off your website and stop selling it.
Upset customers don't come back to you, and don't recommend you either. - When you do get items back, check them against your photos and see if you can detect marks or smells on them - perfume or washing powder for example.
Those are tell tale signs that the dress wasn't just tried on, it was worn out.
Check items carefully and remove the ones that you would not send out at that time, rather than waiting until the item is sent out.
If you have a large product range it may not be possible to check everything but regular random sampling can help greatly in this regard.
Build up a good rapport with your supplier, and if you can ask them to check orders before they send them to you.
Returns cannot be totally eliminated when you are selling dresses, but the rates can be significantly lowered so that they don't affect your bottom line.
By following the above general guidelines for our online dresses shop, we keep our rate of returns and exchanges at low levels that our management is very happy with.
These guidelines can be used by both online and offline retailers - selling dresses and other products too.
