How do returns impact customer retention?
Carly Greenberg
·August 29, 2022
Many brands focus heavily on the customer experience when their goal is converting customers, but don’t pay as much attention to the post-purchase experience: the part of the customer journey that comes after they’ve clicked the “buy” button.
The post-purchase experience includes order confirmations, shipping notifications, packaging and delivery, post-purchase customer support, and the return and exchange process.
We want to ensure that merchants have the tools to be successful in delivering a successful customer experience during the entire buyer’s journey – even if that includes a return, as they do in up to 40% of cases.
We already have strong evidence that brands with more flexible returns policies are able to retain more customers long-term, and even retain more revenue from the transaction in the form of exchanges.
In fact, Loop brands are able to retain revenue on up to 50% of returns thanks to a seamless returns process that prioritizes exchanges and upsells.
But we wanted to learn more about how a brand’s approach to returns determines the customer experience through the entire buyer lifecycle – from deciding where to make a purchase in the first place, all the way through to their experience in making a return.
So in July 2022, we surveyed 1,000 U.S. online shoppers to get their take on how returns policies and processes impact their experience with a brand.
The results made it overwhelmingly clear that a brand’s approach to returns plays a big part in their ability to convert and retain customers – and so do other elements of the post-purchase experience.
In our proprietary report, you’ll learn:
- Which aspects of the returns experience will stop a customer from shopping with a particular retailer again
- What stops customers from sending back an item they wish to return
- What types of post-purchase incentives will encourage customers to make a first-time purchase with a retailer
- How customers factor the environmental impact of a return into their decision process
It’s essential for your brand to put customers at the heart of your post-purchase strategy, developing flexible and generous policies that will meet their needs after the point of purchase. By developing personalized solutions that ensure your customers’ needs are met and showcase your brand’s values, you’ll be able to reach new audiences and build ongoing loyalty among your existing customers.
Discover how you can enhance your post-purchase experience to win over more customers and build customer loyalty today.
Ready to read our new report? Download Now
In this article
Stay in the loop
Subscribe for product updates and Loop's biweekly newsletter.
Retain more revenue with Loop today
With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.