Why automated chatbots aren’t the right fit for returns management

Vaishali Ravi

·

August 27, 2024

Chatbots can be a valuable tool for ecommerce businesses. They can help your shoppers find the answers to common questions, or look up more information about a specific product. But they may not strike the right note when it comes to supporting shoppers with product returns.

As peak season approaches, it’s important to focus on ways to scale your customer support without diminishing the customer experience. And while technology is crucial for expediting your support resolution times, it’s important to use the right technology to minimize frustration and ensure customer satisfaction.

In this article, we’ll cover chatbot benefits, and their limitations when it comes to the returns process—and how you can improve post-purchase retention while delivering a great customer experience.

When to use chatbots

The global chatbot market is expected to be worth $15.5 billion by 2028. In ecommerce, chatbots can help you provide expedited customer support and support customers with navigating through your website. Some common ecommerce use cases include:

• “Where’s my order?” queriesRather than contact a live agent, your shoppers can input their tracking number into a chatbot for streamlined order tracking.
• Answer common questionsChatbots can showcase some of your most frequently answered questions, and easily guide customers to the section of your website that can answer those questions in more detail.
• Make product recommendationsChatbots can be enabled with scripts that ask customers a series of questions to deliver personalized recommendations. A hair care brand, for instance, can use a chatbot to deliver a questionnaire about hair type and habits, resulting in a recommendation for the product that will work best for the shopper.
• Route shoppers to the right person for further helpFor questions that can’t be answered with preexisting content or a database search, chatbots can gather initial information for a customer support query and then route the shopper to the right department for hands-on assistance. By gathering relevant information upfront, your brand will be able to accurately direct shoppers to the right support team, and will have the necessary context to solve their problems quickly.

Chatbots can provide excellent support during the customer journey, facilitating faster resolution times for customers’ questions and issues both before and after a sale. That said, they have limitations when it comes to the returns process.

Choosing the right returns management technology

Depending on your industry, up to 30% of your sales may end in returns—so it’s important to put the right process in place to support your customers through their returns process.

While chatbot-assisted customer support can be great for many situations, returns isn’t one of them. Although chatbots can provide faster resolution than human-driven customer support, shoppers prefer a full self-service experience when it comes to returning a product—and businesses who rely on chatbots are losing out on the ability to optimize the returns process for maximum revenue retention.

Here’s why a best-in-class returns management platform like Loop is a superior option:

• A self-service returns management portalRather than looking up their product with the help of a chatbot, shoppers can access a streamlined returns portal where they can view all of their return-eligible items at a single glance. This makes it easier for them to determine if their item is qualified for a return and follow a customized workflow for each item, based on its specific returns policy. The shopper will be able to return to the portal to view the updated status of each returned item, including whether they’ve received their credit or refund.
• Optimized for exchangesRather than simply process a refund, Loop provides shoppers with the choice of store credit, which can be applied either to a direct exchange or to any item in your store. You can even incentivize shoppers to choose an exchange by offering them bonus credit that they can apply to the price of another item. This customized workflow helps your brand retain revenue from returns and boosts your customer retention rate.
• Customizable workflows

With Loop, you can customize your shoppers’ post-purchase experience, based on their user segment, a sale event, or a product type or category. For instance, you can offer VIP shoppers free return shipping; offer exchanges but not refunds on certain promotional discounts; and exclude returns on final sale items. By setting up conditional logic, you’ll be able to deliver the right outcome for every shopper and every product.

• More efficient reverse logisticsLoop’s conditional logic extends to the reverse logistics process. You’ll be able to set up different return workflows and destinations based on the product being returned, helping you consolidate shipping and save money. For instance, if an item is not likely to be resold, you can provide a “returnless refund,” encouraging the shopper to keep or pass along the product rather than spend money on return shipping. And for products being shipped back, customers have the option to either mail in the item themselves, or to take their item to a nearby drop-off center where it can be shipped in bulk. You can even use Loop to set intelligent return fees, offsetting your reverse logistics costs.
• Integration with partner servicesAs an app built for Shopify, Loop integrates seamlessly with your Shopify ecommerce platform and with many partner apps, including customer support tools, inventory management tools, and logistics partners. You’ll be able to instantly pull and share data from throughout the rest of your tech stack, resulting in better visibility throughout your supply chain, and greater business efficiency.
• Return data insights

When processing a return through Loop, the platform collects data insights about each customer’s return reason. Your brand can analyze this data to discover which products are being returned most frequently and why, enabling you to make product and marketing improvements that will lower your return rate.

While chatbots are ideal for running simple customer support scripts, they’re no match for the full suite of features offered by a dedicated returns management platform like Loop. If you’re ready to build a streamlined returns experience that helps you boost customer retention and revenue, Loop is the clear choice.

Ready to build a better returns experience? Get a demo of Loop.

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