The festive season is a time for cheer. It is also a hectic time for our e-commerce retailers, with a surge in online shopping and an increase in the number of returns. As you gear up for the holiday season, it's important to think about how you can make the returns process as smooth and hassle-free as possible for both customers and staff.

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Below are some of our tips and tricks to hacking returns this holiday season!

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1) Setting up a specific, longer return window for the festive season

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Returns are common all year round, but this is expected to peak during the holidays. The typical 14-30 day return policy may work during normal season, but you may also want to consider flexibility in your return window, ensuring that customers splurging this season are taken care of.

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One way to do this is by setting a rule to extend the return window for orders placed specifically during the festive season.

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This way you can accommodate customers who may have received gifts that they need to return. Additionally, you can offer a generous return policy without worrying about returns coming in months later.

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2) Prevent customers from returning items by using product tags

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During the holiday season, it may be helpful to set a rule that disallows the return of certain items, such as gift cards or personalized products. When a customer attempts to return, if the product tag indicates that the item is ‘personalized’ or ‘gift cards’, the return will automatically be put to a stop.

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3) Ensuring seamless exchanges by providing up-to-date and accurate stock updates

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Our portal’s user-friendly interface also enables customers to easily exchange items for their preferred choice. For instance, our app seamlessly integrates with Shopify to ensure that our brand's inventory is consistently updated in real time. This means displaying only the items that are currently in stock. To avoid overselling a product, set a minimum exchange quantity to help prevent overselling and ensure that there are sufficient products available for exchange.

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As a result, anything that is out of stock will not be in display, so you can avoid disappointing customers!

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4) Save time and implement auto-approve return requests based on reason

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Increase efficiency by manually approving only the requests that require review, and automate the rest, for instance damaged items. This way, your staff can spend more time focusing on other things, and we will take care of the rest!

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5) Offering an omnichannel return option

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One way to leverage on the festive season is  by offering multiple return options for your customers. In addition to the option of returning items by shipping them back to you, you could also offer in-store returns. This can be especially convenient for shoppers who are looking for last-minute gifts!

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You can also generate more traffic to your physical store. Customers who come in to return items may also be more likely to browse and potentially make additional purchases while they are there.

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The holiday season is a busy time. To ensure success during this time, it is important for retailers to invest in post-purchase strategies, just as they do in pre-sale strategies. Dealing with returns during this time of year can be a challenge, but with the right approach, it can be managed effectively.

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Feel free to reach out to us and we'd be happy to have a chat to explore other potential strategies that will work for your brand!