Which returns management solution is right for you?
JP Arnaud-Marquez
·June 14, 2022
Your online store is growing, and with an increase in sales comes an increase in returns.
Anywhere from 10% to 40% of online purchases end up getting returned to merchants, and it can be a big drain on your customer service resources to constantly deal with return requests – not to mention, customers will get frustrated when it takes your brand hours or days to get back to them about a return request.
In order to reserve your customer support team for situations that really need them, and to deliver a hassle-free returns experience for your customers, it’s a good time to consider returns management automation software.
With a returns management solution, you’ll be able to streamline and automate the returns process with simple workflows that enable customers to automatically get printable return labels or scannable QR codes for returning their items, with a variety of easy options for mailing the package back or bringing it to a drop-off location. Any returns management solution is a huge improvement on none at all – but when you’re considering your options, what will set one solution apart from another?
Here’s a look at some of the top contenders.
Returnly
Returnly offers a self-service returns platform where customers can initiate their own return or exchange requests. It offers conditional logic workflows, including options for “Green Returns” to recycle or donate an item that can’t profitably be resold.
Like our solution, Loop, Returnly encourages customers to select exchanges rather than returns so that your brand can retain revenue and preserve the customer relationship – however, on Returnly, exchanges are processed as a gift card refund, and carry up to a 15% commission for the merchant.
Ordoro
Ordoro is a comprehensive platform for inventory management, which enables merchants to automate order fulfillment and shipping. Ordoro can work well for initial order delivery, but their process is more labor intensive when it comes to making returns.
Ordoro does include a returns module, but their solution offers minimal options for automation – merchants need to manually create a return merchandise authorization (RMA) and email it to the customer, costing them customer support time and labor. Ordoro makes it easy to sync all of your inventory management data in one place, but you’ll likely want to select an alternative for processing returns as your company scales, rather than manually track returns in Ordoro.
Narvar
Narvar is billed as a “post-purchase experience” tool, with post-purchase order tracking, messaging, and returns experiences. The platform offers a fairly robust solution for returns management, with options for customers to make hassle-free returns by dropping them off at nearby drop-off centers, and ongoing notifications throughout the returns process. Customers can process returns through a self-service portal, where Narvar uses conditional logic to determine if a product is eligible for a return.
The solution also incentivizes exchanges – however, Narvar focuses on variant-based exchanges only, where a customer can only exchange an item for a different size or color of the same item, rather than processing exchanges for items of different prices. That limits customers’ ability to exchange for an entirely different item, making them more likely to request a return.
Aftership
Like Narvar, Aftership offers a number of post-purchase engagement tools. Its products include a multi-carrier tracking solution, shipping insurance, and a returns center.
Aftership does offer a self-service returns portal for customers to initiate the return process – but you still need to get involved from there, with a manual review process to determine whether each return is approved or not.
On the plus side, the solution offers a “green returns” option for items that can’t be resold, and routing rules to help you optimize your shipping costs and speed.
Loop
Finally, let’s take a look at our own solution, Loop.
We think we’re the top contender, and while we may be biased, we have a lot of reasons to back us up.
For one, Loop’s custom workflows make it easy to optimize for exchanges, with the ability to process exchanges for different dollar amounts, automatically charging or refunding the customer’s credit card for the difference to create a seamless transaction that doesn’t require returning to the shopping cart.
Loop also includes the opportunity to offer bonus credit that customers can use to purchase any product in your store without returning to their shopping cart.
Loop is also the only returns solution that offers “Instant Exchanges,” with an immediate shipment of the item the customer has chosen for exchange, and a grace period of 14 days to ship back the original item before the customer is charged for it.
Loop puts the customer first in delivering a seamless post-purchase experience – and that pays off for you as the merchant.
Loop customers are far more likely to make exchanges, and Loop merchants retain an average of 40% of revenue from product exchanges – whereas with most other solutions, customers are likely to stick with refunds.
Ready to improve your customers’ post-purchase experience? Contact Loop for a free 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.