Top Five Tips to Survive the Christmas Returns

It’s peak season, which means this may be one of the busiest times of year for your business in terms of sales and revenue (yippee), however this also means there may be a huge influx in returns after Christmas. The post-holiday returns process can be a logistical nightmare if not properly managed, and therefore your company must be prepared for this. Returns are inevitable (even with the best products ever), and after Christmas you should be fully expecting a large amount of returns for several reasons, but fear not, we are here to help.

Here are five essential tips to help your business survive the Christmas returns season:

1. Establish a Clear Return Policy

One of the most important steps in handling returns is making sure your return policies are crystal clear to customers before they make a purchase. Your customers need to know exactly what they can return, how long they have to do so, and in what condition the items should be. A solid, transparent return policy not only helps manage customer expectations but also reduces the number of complaints and messages from customers when they attempt to make a return.

Make the policy easy to find and simple to understand on your website as well as making the process as easy as possible for customers too (whilst still being profitable for you). You may want to consider offering an extended return window for all holiday purchases to boost customer satisfaction, as people enjoy Christmas shopping early, but still want the confidence to know they can return anything they don’t want.

2. Offer Multiple Return Options

Consumers today expect flexibility, and offering a variety of return options can make the process much easier for both the customer and your business. Now, most companies will have several returns options for customers, and it is important you can keep up with competitors by offering the same.

Some common methods include return by mail, return to store (if you have physical locations), or even utilising third-party drop-off locations (such as Evri or In-Post). The more convenient you make the process; the more likely customers will be to return items in a way that works best for them — which makes it easier for you to manage the returns and have less customer queries.

3. Automate Your Returns Process

Managing returns manually can be incredibly time-consuming and prone to error, and especially difficult trying to manage speaking to each customer individually. Implementing an automated system for returns processing can significantly streamline the process and save your business a lot of time.

You should be able to provide return labels to automatically generate refunds once a return is received, automation can save your team a lot of time and reduce the chances of mistakes and avoids items getting lost in the returns process. It is helpful to provide customers with confirmation and tracking of their item in order to enhance their overall experience with your brand.

4. Optimise Your Reverse Logistics Process

Reverse logistics—the process of handling products that are returned by customers—is a critical part of the return experience (you can read more about it here). To effectively manage returns, it’s essential to have a clear strategy for getting those items back into your inventory, refurbishing them (if necessary), and reselling or recycling them. A key step is checking your items are being returned in the condition they were sent in and avoid resending out items that are not sellable.

Investing in a reverse logistics management system can help track returns, categorize them, and even prioritise items based on resale value. You want to ensure that customers are only being refunded on items that are still in good condition to avoid huge costs for your business.

5. Use a 3PL (Third-Party Logistics Provider)

When the volume of returns skyrockets after the Christmas season, it can overwhelm even the most organised in-house logistics teams. This is where a 3PL (like GNOC) comes in. Outsourcing your returns management to a 3PL partner can help streamline your reverse logistics and free up valuable time and resources. Your 3PL will specialise in warehousing, inventory management, and handling returns which then allows you to focus on your core business activities. With their expertise, you can improve return processing speed, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction — making the post-holiday return rush much more manageable.

Choose GNOC

Here at GNOC, we want to prioritise your business and ensure your returns process runs as smoothly as possible for you. If your business has any specific requirements when it comes to your returns process, you can discuss this with us, and we can work through to try and help you with the process as much as possible.

We have systems in place to ensure that when your customer returns their order, it makes its way back to our warehouse safely, where it will be thoroughly checked before being put back into your stock systems.

We have years of experience in reverse logistics and know how important it is to keep the supply chain running smoothly for your company. Contact us today, or fill out our short form explaining your company’s requirements and we will get back to you ASAP to discuss how we can help in any way…