Returned Orders: The Ultimate Guide | RAJA x ShopRunBack
15min read
15/01/2020
Le retour de commande parfait sera bientôt aussi incontournable qu’une expérience de livraison impeccable. C’est notre conviction. Nous avons répertorié ci-dessous quelques chiffres qui démontrent de cette tendance irrémédiable.
Notre conseil dans un monde qui bouge très vite : il vaut mieux anticiper et être parmi les leaders qu’être considéré par ses clients parmi les retardataires.
Nous sommes donc à la recherche d’une logistique retour efficace et pas trop coûteuse; qui satisfasse – voir impressionne – votre client !
Les challenges sont nombreux pour y parvenir (coût, organisation, SI…) mais nous avons compilé dans ce guide toutes les étapes à suivre depuis le lancement du projet au pilotage en passant par toutes les questions primordiales à se poser.
Pour être sûr de ne rien avoir oublié, nous nous sommes appuyés sur les experts de la logistique retour(reverse logistics en anglais) : Sh
How to use this guide :
- Use the table of contents to go directly to the part that interests you.
- Download the bonuses, share them (and possibly print them) during your preparation workshops with internal and external stakeholders.
- Feel free to send us your comments, questions and testimonials in the comments at the end of the article or by email to socialmedia (at) raja.fr
we hope you enjoy reading it.
TABLE OF CONTENTSI. WHY IMPROVE YOUR RETURN LOGISTICS?The (weak) signals | Your current (hidden) costs | E-commerce transhipment …II. PREPARE YOUR RETURN LOGISTICS PROJECT WELLThe people to involve | The questions to ask | Is it necessary to disrupt the IS ?
Bonus: the checklist of essential questions to ask at the start of the project
III. EFFECTIVELY COORDINATING EFFORTS DURING IMPLEMENTATIONHow long will it take to integrate? Should a test be carried out? The actions of each department…
warning: what are the international return logistics? Objectives: to reduce the usually very high costs, to facilitate the treatment.
Bonus: [expert opinion] the perfect packaging for a smooth return
IV. HOW TO EVALUATE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PROJECT?List the benefits by service | Monitor the serial returners…V. HOW TO MANAGE THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS?KPIs to build and monitor | Adopt a continuous improvement method…
bonus: the return of heavy/bulky products. When on average 80% of products are returned damaged, a specific logistics process must be put in place. Advice and methodology.
When the figures speak… and hurt!
in the United States, the king customer returns 30 to 70% of the products ordered depending on the product category [source: Optoro 2018]. In Europe, returns account for 10% of returns; retail and e-commerce combined. The rate is obviously higher when focusing on online purchases with peaks in the textile and footwear sector: 30% in France, 50% in Germany [BFM Business, Apr. 2018].
83% of consumers say they would make more purchases if the return process is easy [Reverse Logistics Association] 46% of online shoppers have abandoned a basket because the return was not free [Optoro, Dec. 2017], and 15% abandon their basket just because of an unclear return policy [UPS]
I. PREAMBLE: WHY IMPROVE YOUR RETURN LOGISTICS?
The (weak) signals | Your current (hidden) costs | The e-commerce transborder
while there is no systematic trigger that prompts its customers to improve their return logistics, Florian Laudillay – Head of Sales and co-founder of ShopRunBack – observes some common symptoms
The volume of pre- and post-sales requests
it is often an initiative of customer service or the person in charge of customer experience. It is linked to the increase in questions related to order returns. “How do I return my product? Where is my return? When will I get my money back?” are the most recurrent level 1 customer questions. But it is also increasingly responding to a customer desire and a service standard in e-commerce (today delivery is almost systematically “free” (offered by the merchant). This benevolent policy is spreading more and more to the return process, rebalancing both the purchase and post-purchase experience
Lack of visibility on order returns for customer service
here again, the customer service department often has only a fragmented view of returns. Agents have to question the logistics department, which often does not make returns processing a priority and does not have the tools to do better than weekly reporting. This inter-departmental breakdown is a real problem in returns processing. One does not have the priority, the other does not have the visibility. In the end, it is the customer who suffers… and who does not recommend the site
Non-aligned logistics organisation
the organisation is often not aligned with the concerns of the end customer. When logistics are outsourced, the priorities are preparation time and time to delivery.
Internal logistics are often too busy to easily take on the subject of order returns because the priority of the general management is elsewhere,” notes Florian Laudillay
International
with 70% of European internet users having ordered at least once abroad last year (65% in France), most e-commerce sites have to manage uncontrolled and particularly costly international returns [read our E-commerce transborder: optimising return logistics insert]. In this context, the first benefits of a robust returns policy are
- Improved customer satisfaction and, by rebound, increased turnover
- The fluidity of the internal returns process
however, we will see that a robust returns policy brings other very significant financial benefits to customers.
II. PREPARE YOUR RETURNS LOGISTICS PROJECT WELL
The people to involve | The questions to ask | Is it necessary to disrupt the IS?
Who should be involved in the implementation of a returns project?
“There
is no set rule, it depends on how the company operates, but we mainly interact with four major players during the preparatory phase: the logistics department, the customer service department, the marketing department and the e-commerce department,” says Florian Laudillay.
This proves that returns are a cross-functional problem and issue in the company!
What about the Information System (IS)?
whatever
the technical solution envisaged, it must allow your customer to declare and follow up on his return. Ideally, the solution is “encapsulated” in his customer space; if not, on an external page so that the customer can follow up on his return package at any time.
The external page is obviously the quickest solution to set up, but it is also the solution that allows you to benefit quickly from the new functionalities that are available, without having to make any developments for the merchant” advises Florian Laudillay.
At ShopRunBack, we propose an API as well as modules for certain frameworks in order to connect our solution quickly to the My Account space of the e-commerce site. If internal resources do not allow for complete integration, we offer a personalised external page with a permanent link
The essential questions to ask yourself when building your return logistics
should you charge for the return? What return methods should you offer? Refunds? … All the questions to list and to which you must imperatively upstream in a collective manner (customer service, finance, logistics, marketing …)Download below the list to share / print during your inter-team preparation workshops
The pre-paid return label: good or bad idea?
shopRunBack’s opinion: we do not recommend the prepaid label, in order to force the customer to have a return process. Among other things, this allows us to offer different return methods depending on the reason for the return. “This discourages the so-called ” wild” return while allowing the merchant to accumulate important data on its return activity. 
III. COORDINATING EFFORTS EFFECTIVELY DURING IMPLEMENTATION
What is the integration time? Should a test be carried out? The actions of each department…
Who does what?
shopRunBack’s methodology can be a source of inspiration for your own return logistics project
- With the merchant, ShopRunBack identifies the current returns policy and the proposed evolution as well as the issues at stake – there is therefore a parameter setting that will be reflected in the returns flow and especially in the declaration of the returns process by the customer (more returns, assumption of costs, choice of return method, etc.).
- The merchant must therefore set up all of these elements beforehand: from the reason for the return to the address of the warehouse to relocate the goods.
our solution is “plug & play”, it allows the merchant, after configuration, to be able to offer services and solutions to end customers
Players specialising in returns management are appearing to offer e-retailers a turnkey returns service (Shoprunback, Coliback, etc.): recovery, verification, return. They make it possible to eliminate many of the constraints listed above.
Florian Cimetierre, co-founder of ITinSell
How long does integration take?
this integration and start-up phase depends on the merchant’s project, its capacity to do so and its willingness to use the service. You really need to get into project mode and do the logistics flow configuration phase in one go. At the same time, we align the return services for the customer and put the new rules in place within the customer service department.
“As soon as our tools are available, we generally find that this integration phase is completed within one to two weeks (if we include tests at our level). The merchant sets up the parameters using our tools in just a few minutes. As soon as the customer service department has got used to using the tool, the logistics department is aware of the situation and the marketing department is ready to communicate with the customer, the keys are back in the merchant’s hands to get started
Idea: Why not start with a POC?
a POC (or Proof Of Concept) is a common test to validate a new service. In our case, why not offer a different return experience depending on the amount of purchase in order to test different return methods?
ShopRunBack goes further “An e-retailer, can afford the return without any additional cost!
Set up
a return policy that is easy for the customer, transparent – but at their expense! The customer bears the cost of shipping the return. This way you accumulate data and information for free that will allow you to perfect your return policy tomorrow.”
Why do you need to plan for round-trip packaging?
when you know that more than 90% of customers return the product in the original packaging, it is essential to think about your packaging
- both to improve the customer experience, which has become decisive for customer loyalty
- but also to optimise your outward and return transport costs!
Download our complete help on round trip packaging below
E-commerce transborder: what return logistics for international customers?
the issues and parameters to be taken into account when setting up your return logistics outside your territory
According to the 2018 Nordpost study, 70% of European internet users bought a product abroad at least once in 2017. FEVAD indicated that 65% of French people succumbed at least once to the siren calls of a cross-border e-commerce site in 2017.
the average cost of an international return is €15 to €20 with international players such as UPS, DHL, etc. How can you reduce this exorbitant cost without cutting yourself off from an international clientele?
ShopRunBack reveals their method
Rely on a local network
we rely on a network of national players rather than a single, much more expensive global player. We benefit from local negotiated costs. Our role is then to coordinate these players for our e-merchant customers
An optimised logistics process
- We receive all brand returns on national platforms.
- We check the returned orders on the spot (quality) before proceeding with the processing requested by the customer (registration, reference, quantity, labelling, etc.)
- All this information is immediately sent to the merchants, allowing both the customer service and the logistics department to be informed of the returns being processed.
- All the orders are grouped together in a consolidation(masterbox) sent to the merchant’s logistics department, which only has to put them back in stock.
An adaptable process
for small retailers, we group the orders of several companies in a single consolidation(masterbox) sent back to their country of origin, where a relay will take care of the distribution of the return orders by merchant… for the price of local transport
IV. HOW TO EVALUATE THE SUCCESS OF YOUR PROJECT?
List the benefits by department | Monitor serial returners…
this is a critical task! Although returns are a business opportunity when well managed, they are first and foremost a cost, so the success of the project needs to be evaluated in order to value the efforts of all parties involved
How to evaluate the overall benefit?
here are the direct beneficial consequences for the company
- Customer service contact rate (up to 30% less on returns alone)
- Smooth logistical processing (less processing time, quicker return to stock)
- Cost control thanks to centralised management, combined with better financial projections.
and some finer elements to be estimated via sales in the medium term
- Improved customer experience leading to greater loyalty and a better re-purchase rate.
- The gain in terms of internal resources if it relies on an expert for its returns management.
Should we worry about serial returners?
le client est-il toujours roi ? On observe cette année un léger changement de mentalité avec l’exclusion des serial returners et les fraudeurs chez Amazon [au total, la fraude au retour a été estimée à 9 milliards de dollars outre-Atlantique en 2017 | Forbes, déc. 2017].
Serial Returners ? Ce terme né aux Etats-Unis désigne les consommateurs qui achètent pour essayer, voire utiliser le produit avant de le retourner. Ils sont considérés comme n’ayant aucune intention d’acheter. Ces fraudeurs représentent un phénomène en croissance continue selon l’incontournable National Retail Federation américaine. Dans l’industrie vestimentaire, on appelle cela du wardrobing.
Ce risque de fraude ne doit pas pour autant ralentir vos initiatives. Jonathan Trepo, directeur général de Zalando France, déclare “Avoir un taux de retour global des articles livrés à plus de 50 % n’est pas un problème, au contraire. Bien gérés, les retours augmentent le taux de satisfaction des clients qui n’
hési
VI. HOW TO MONITOR DAILY OPERATIONS?
KPIs to build and monitor | Adopt a continuous improvement method
Criteria to monitor
- The most important criterion is customer satisfaction! Measure whether the return of an order is falling among the reasons for customer dissatisfaction.
- Also monitor the re-purchase rate after an order return.
- In the medium term, it is the annual expenditure per customer that should increase.
LogisticsThe main benefit should be a reduction in the time it takes to process a parcel: in particular the time it takes to get it back on sale. Keep a close eye on this criterion as it will have a decisive impact on the ROI of your return logistics
Continuous improvement
formalising your return logistics will give you better visibility on many criteria
- What are the stated reasons for product returns in descending order? Can you learn from this?
- Are there products that are returned more than others?
- Is there a higher rate of returns in a particular region or country?
- Is there a packaging and/or transport problem that leads to a higher breakage rate in a product category or country?
all this information will allow you to detect product quality problems, points to be clarified on the product sheets of your site, communication to be adapted in a particular country… “On the ShopRunBack interface, we provide access to a lot of data so that our customers can work on the continuous improvement of their return logistics.”How to improve your return packaging policy for bulky products?
80% of heavy/bulky products returned to the merchant are damaged!
How to set up a return policy that will save your margins
- Selecting the right carriers
- A list of criteria and important questions to ask
- An efficient take-back and packaging methodology
we hope you have found this guide useful, so please share it with us and give us your encouragement and feedback!
Who is ShopRunBack?
shopRunBack is revolutionising the returns experience for consumers and merchants by combining innovative solutions, a global network and value-added services.We help e-retailers provide a complete and effective returns solution to their customers, to improve the customer experience and boost sales. www. shoprunback.com | 01 73 43 55 20
Author’s note: ShopRunBack has been awarded by e-commerce and logistics juries and has been selected by Cdiscount to be part of its accelerator The Warehouse, proving that return logistics is an important topic for the retail and e-commerce sector. We have been personally following ShopRunBack since 2015 and are convinced of the relevance of its solution since its inception.
