5 Ways to Turn Refunds into Revenue
Returns don't have to be a loss. Make them a win for you and your shoppers.
Returns are a reality for every e-commerce business. But there are ways to improve the customer experience, delight your shoppers, and even recoup lost sales during the returns process. Here are five ways Happy Returns helps merchants turn refunds into revenue.
1. Turn refunds into simple, quick exchanges
Did you know 72% of returns are size-related?¹ That’s one reason we help to make exchanges simpler with One-Click Exchanges. It's quick, easy, and convenient.
Wrong color? No problem. You can also make variant exchanges simpler by letting shoppers choose a different color and/or style instead of requesting a full refund or replacement order. They can easily select their replacement with just a couple of clicks.
2. Turn refunds into site credit
Who doesn't love a little cash bonus? With Happy Returns, shoppers have the option to receive site credit as a bonus incentive instead of a refund. This can encourage them to shop with you again in the future – while helping to keep more revenue today.
3. Turn refunds into new sales
Return Shopping is one of our latest features that makes it easier for shoppers to browse new products on your site within the returns experience. Help customers find new items and incentivize their next purchase by offering a percentage discount or by waiving return processing fees. Return Shopping helps recoup what could have been lost revenue and helps drive upsells.
4. Turn refund windows into exchange windows
With Happy Returns, you can customize your site policies to incentivize behaviors that drive revenue retention. For example, you may choose to shorten your refund window and extend your exchange window. A shorter refund window could increase inventory visibility through faster returns while also enabling you to retain revenue from more exchanges.
5. Turn no-fees into low fees
A quarter of merchants surveyed say they started charging for returns in 2022.² To help cut costs, consider charging for returns – especially for mail, the most expensive method. With the flexibility to set processing fees, you can offer the more sustainable and cost-effective methods, like return drop-off, for free.
On average, Happy Returns merchants who offer free Return Bar returns but charge for mail returns have an 11% higher Net Promoter Score than merchants who charge a fee for both return methods.³
Happy shoppers, happy merchants, Happy Returns
At Happy Returns, we're relentlessly focused on providing shoppers with great returns experiences that also support our merchants’ bottom lines.
Even though returns are inevitable, it’s possible to retain (and even grow) revenue with the right reverse logistics partner.
Returns don't have to be a loss. Make them a win for you and your shoppers. Watch the full video to see how simple it is to enable revenue-retaining features within the platform.
¹Source: Ecommerce Returns: Expert Guide to Best Practices (shopify.com)
²Source: Worldwide Business Research (WBR), commissioned by PayPal, December 8, 2022 - January 17, 2023. The phone interview was conducted by WBR across 100 U.S. apparel and footwear merchants with annual revenues of $500 million or more (n=100).
³Source: Based on Happy Returns internal data 2022 analysis of merchants with 50+ NPS reviews.