As an e-commerce retailer, frequent online sales are a good thing for your business. On the other hand, frequent returns are not. Not only do returns diminish your customer’s satisfaction and loyalty to your brand, return processing can be costly for you in terms of time, money, and inventory. Even with a reputation for high-quality products, you will still have to deal with the unfortunate reality of processing returns. It’s simply the cost of doing business.
Consider this: if your company is based in Miami, FL, and you would need to pay for the shipping costs to cover a return from a customer in Fairbanks, AK, wouldn’t it be nice if you could just tell the customer to keep the product and simply refund them instead? Believe it or not, there is a way you can, and several ecommerce companies are embracing the concept. It’s called the Returnless Refund with Amazon. But is it right for you?
Simply put, the Amazon Returnless refund allows the seller to refund the customer for their purchase without requiring the customer to send the product they wish to return. If the product is incorrect or damaged in transit, you can also send the customer seeking a refund a replacement product instead.
The Amazon Returnless Refund was created with the seller in mind. Instead of processing the return, paying for its shipping, or even determining if you can resell the item later, Amazon created this return option to help ecommerce companies like yours efficiently handle returns without them bogging you down.
As an ecommerce seller, Amazon allows you to set certain criteria for participating in the Amazon Returnless Refund program. You can create specific rules enabling which products (or product categories) you want to qualify for an Amazon Returnless Refund and which ones you do not.
When your customer requests a return, Amazon determines if the situation qualifies for an Amazon Returnless Refund, and will automatically issue the refund for you. Typically, it will take Amazon one to two days to process and complete the refund once it’s requested.
There are no limits to how often a customer can request an Amazon Returnless refund, which can create opportunities for scammers to abuse the system. However, Amazon regularly monitors return requests to look out for return fraud.
As you determine whether the Amazon Returnless Refund is right for you, consider these important benefits:
Under traditional return methods, the customer will send the item they wish to return back to you. As an ecommerce company, you will likely cover the shipping cost to return the item, which may be defective or damaged, meaning you cannot resell it later. With the Amazon Returnless Refund, you can skip these costly shipping requirements altogether, especially for products that aren’t worth returning.
Normally, you can’t issue the refund until the customer ships the returned product back to you, and when the product arrives, you may need to inspect it to determine if it can be restocked. Talk about time-consuming! However, with a processing time of one to two business days after the refund request, an Amazon Returnless Refund can get completed much more quickly, saving you much-needed order fulfillment time.
While returns are an unfortunate reality for ecommerce retailers, they’re simply no fun for the customer. Allowing your customers to skip the hassle of repackaging and shipping their returned item to get their refund even faster bodes well for their impression of your company—meaning increased loyalty (and more purchases in the future).
Plus, by implementing the Amazon Returnless Refund, your company can participate in sustainable logistics practices. Skipping the standard return processing steps enables you to cut carbon emissions from transportation and reduce landfill waste. You can even encourage your customers to donate their returned items to charity and market your company as eco-friendly.
The Amazon Returnless Refund can be a worthwhile strategy for your ecommerce business. However, if you want to have total peace of mind over the processing of your returns, partnering with the right 3PL can make the greatest impact.
At Smart Warehousing, we help you skip the hassle of time-consuming returns through our proven return management expertise. As a result, you save time and money to focus on other important aspects of your business, and your customers appreciate an efficient and reliable returns experience. Contact us today to learn more.