How Workflows by Loop will help you automate returns
JP Arnaud-Marquez
·March 1, 2022
It’s sad to say, but not every ecommerce purchase is meant to be. As many as 30% to 40% of your customers’ purchases may end in a return.
Offering a generous return policy is a key differentiator for brands: 74% of customers cite the flexibility of a return policy in deciding which brands to make purchases from.
But if you’re too flexible, you may end up with customers abusing your policy, or you may end up accepting returns that can’t be resold – leading to unnecessary waste. While your standard return policy may cover most scenarios, there are always exceptions that require a more nuanced approach.
Most brands rely on customer support agents to decide when to make an exception to their return policy. But this can be a heavy time load on your support agents, and customers may be frustrated if they can’t process a return immediately.
Fortunately, Loop’s automated returns solution can make this process easier for your whole team. Our Workflows tool gives you the ability to fully customize the conditions under which you’ll accept a return, or when you’ll encourage a customer to keep or donate the item. Customers can complete a return or exchange transaction in seconds through our self-service platform.
Let’s look at Workflows in more detail.
Loop’s Workflows tool
Workflows enables your team to set up detailed conditions for your returns process. You’ll be able to set up an “if/then” rules paradigm that allows you to specify conditions and resulting actions to be applied to a return.
So what does this mean for your returns experience?
- Control costs
Workflows helps you manage budgets where you need to – whether it’s charging an additional fee or suppressing shipping on a return, you have the ability to manipulate these levers based on your brand’s unique needs.
- Customize the user experience
Workflows also helps you build a highly tailored returns experience – delivering the optimal return outcome for each unique scenario. For example, you can flex a policy around promotional periods, or create a VIP returns experience as part of a loyalty offering. This provides a superior customer experience that ensures you’re responding to your customers’ needs.
One of our customers, intimate apparel brand Knix, uses Workflows to manage and automate its return policy.
Because the brand’s apparel cannot be resold once the packaging has been opened, it didn’t make sense for them to accept returns for opened items – but they still wanted to offer a 30-day wash and wear guarantee for new customers to try their products.
They were able to use our Workflows tool to set up custom logic that asked customers whether a product had been removed from its packaging. If the answer was no, they would accept the return; if the answer was yes, they would refund the item, but tell the customer to keep the product.
Automating their return policy through our platform enabled Knix to reduce their environmental impact and the amount of customer support needed to process returns.
“Our customers have responded so positively,” says Sarah King, Customer Empowerment Operations Manager. “Returns are processed in real-time and do not need to be manually reviewed thanks to the automation of Workflows.”
Key benefits of Workflows
By integrating Workflows into your returns process, you can:
- Deliver the right outcome for every return scenario by applying flexible conditions
- Reward your best customers by offering unique incentives
- Save time and money by freeing up your customer support teams
- Delight your customers by offering a seamless returns experience
Workflows makes it easy to set an outcome for each variable in a particular return scenario, enabling you to empower customers with a self-service experience that lets them effortlessly request their return. Whether that means sending the item back, donating it, or keeping it based on the condition or type of item, is fully up to you.
Loop also enables you to optimize for exchanges within your returns process. That means we can instantly pull relevant inventory for the customer to consider or offer them the opportunity to exchange the return for a new item altogether.
Loop can also offer customers bonus credit to put towards an exchange, increasing the chances of them making an exchange and continuing the customer relationship, rather than ending it with a refund. With Loop, 40% of customers choose an exchange over a refund, helping you increase retained revenue and extend the lifespan of the customer relationship.
Want to take Loop for a spin and learn more about our Workflows tool? Contact our team for a demo.
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With Loop, your brand can offer everything from refunds to direct exchanges to shopper incentives and more. Even better? These exchanges build your business.