As a retail company, it's important to have a customer-focused approach. One of the key elements of a customer-focused approach is having a good return policy. A good return policy will increase customer satisfaction and build trust, leading to repeat business and customer loyalty.

According to a study by the National Retail Federation, having a good return policy is one of the most important factors for customers when making a purchase. In fact, 82% of customers said that a simple and easy return process is important when making a purchase. Additionally, 64% of customers said they are more likely to shop with a company again if they have a positive return experience.

Some executives view unhappy customers who want to return the product as a lost cause, and would prefer to find a new customer vs trying to save an unhappy one. This is one of the biggest mistakes one can make, for a few reasons. 1) The reason that customer is unhappy is probably a shared concern with other customers. One person returning a product can represent another ten customers who are unhappy and just don't want to go through the effort of doing a return. 2) That unhappy customer is going to talk about their experience a lot more to friends and family than a happy customer. Which results in lost potential sales that you could have had. 3) When trust is lost, it's hard to build it back.

It's also important that customers know about a company's return policy at the time of purchase. Customers should be able to make informed decisions about their purchase and should not have to wait until they receive the product to learn about the return process. When customers are not aware of a return policy at the time of purchase, they may feel frustrated and misled, leading to negative reviews and decreased customer satisfaction.

That's why it's crucial for retail companies to have a clear and concise return policy that is easily accessible and communicated to customers. This can be done through including information on the company's website, including it in the purchase confirmation email, and including it in the packaging of the product.

I've noticed in my experience working with some different retail companies that use Shopify and Loop for returns, that it's somewhat common if a company is not clear on their return policy, they are worried about revenue, and their support team is not trained well, they will let customers return their product to their warehouse and then still deny the return after it's been received. This is one of the quickest ways to have your reputation smeared and for your customers to lose trust in you. 

I was shopping for an anti-aging cream the this week and decided to check out the return policy. Their advertisements seemed a little too good to be true. On the main page it stated 60 day happiness guarantee. Under the FAQs it stated "If you are not satisfied with your product, you must contact us within 5 days from date of delivery. The next FAQ right under that stated "What if I'm not satisfied with the product?" and it said "You can always contact with our customer care service if you're not satisfied by the product. We offer free returns & full refund within 30 days from the day of delivery." Note the grammar is not great, and the 3 different time frames posted on the website. I reached out on live chat to ask them what their actual return policy is and nobody responded to my request after more than an hour. I looked for reviews on google and found a handful of people that never received their product or never received a refund after returning it. I decided not to purchase that product even though I was fully intending to prior to my research. Your policies need to be consistent, and posted. And your support team needs to be quick to respond and consistent in how they handle returns.

In conclusion, having a good return policy is an essential component of a customer-focused approach for retail companies. A good return policy can increase customer satisfaction and build trust, leading to repeat business and customer loyalty. By making sure customers know about the return policy at the time of purchase, and keeping the entire team on the same page, retail companies can provide a positive and transparent customer experience. Many customers who return products will still purchase again if they had a good experience and they trust you based on how you handled their return. It is a worthy cause to spend time on really making the refund policy and return procedures something that is focused on making the customer happy and building that trust.