4 Ways to Turn BFCM Returns Into Revenue

Black Friday / Cyber Monday is often discussed as a boon for retailers, with a huge influx of new customers taking advantage of deep discounts. But there’s a downside to increased sales that’s less talked about, and that’s an increase in returns.

Impulse buying due to lower prices and limited-time offers can lead to buyer’s remorse and unmet expectations for shoppers — and for merchants, that often means lost revenue when items are returned. That doesn’t have to be the case, however. With these strategies, you can reduce operational and processing costs, retain and grow revenue, and turn the financial headache of returns into new opportunities.

1. Automate your returns process

Returns can mean lost revenue, but they can also be a drain on human capital. If your team has to manually approve and process return requests during peak times like BFCM, it means they likely won’t have the bandwidth to deal with more complex customer support issues. This could mean an immediate loss of revenue due to unhappy customers and long-term revenue that could have come from a repeat customer — not to mention the drain on operating costs.

The more you can automate your returns process, the faster you’ll be able to process returns during peak season. AfterShip data shows that the following automations helped merchants save during 2023’s BFCM:

Auto-approval: Merchants who leveraged automation for returns approval experienced a whopping 100% reduction in the time taken to process returns.  
Auto-mark as received: Merchants who used automated workflows to mark returns as received saw an average reduction of more than three days (equivalent to a 31%+ decrease) in the time taken to process the returns.   
Auto-refund: Merchants who utilized auto-refunds based on certain conditions experienced an average reduction of more than five days (equivalent to a 43%+ decrease) in the time taken to process the returns.

By setting rules based on your return policy and processes, you can save on operational costs, create happier customers, and find more opportunities to recapture revenue.

2. Offer flexible return options

In the age of omnichannel, customers want convenience and flexibility, and that extends to their returns experience. Offering flexible returns options means more opportunities to recapture — and in some cases, even grow — revenue.

AfterShip data shows that retailers who enabled three or more return resolution options during BFCM 2023 had a revenue retention rate of more than 30% — that’s huge! And the top three returns resolution mixes all had something in common — exchange for other items. This option helped brands retain revenue, but even more importantly, gave them an opportunity to increase revenue when customers exchanged for higher-priced items. Merchants offering exchange for other items saw an average of nearly 12% in increased upsell revenue.

Read the full BFCM eCommerce Returns Report.

If you sell both online and in a physical location, allow customers to choose how they’d like to return their item. By choosing a returns solution that integrates with your tracking tools, you can ensure you’re providing accurate and real-time return and exchange statuses at every step, from pre-shipment operations to transit stages.

3. Implement systems to detect fraud

When returns spike during busy times like BFCM, so does the potential for fraud. Merchants face revenue loss and added expenses due to the abuse of return policies, including the return of used items, empty boxes, or incorrect products. Plus, bad customer behaviors like wardrobing and bracketing can increase during peak times. These issues can be hard to detect beforehand, resulting in extended processing times.  

Here are some ways you can detect and avoid returns fraud:

Analyze shopper behaviors: Track the number of return requests, reasons for returns, and item tags used by customers over a defined period. Then, take your analysis further by identifying weight discrepancies between returned parcels and original items.
Identify suspicious returns: Use automation to flag suspicious return requests for manual review or add individual customers to a blocklist.
Highlight problem customers: Drill down into the historical returns data of specific customers and quickly address fraudulent returns by rejecting the requests based on historical data.

The right returns solution will make fraud management easy and automate tasks based on data and custom rules, leading to less returns fraud and more retained revenue.

4. Offer Green Returns

It may seem counterintuitive — especially after a section on returns fraud — but not all items need to be shipped back to process a return. With Green Returns, refunds or exchanges for items that are damaged, defective, inexpensive or otherwise resealable are processed without a return required. It’s better for the environment, and more convenient for both customers and merchants.

AfterShip data shows that beauty brands offer the highest volume of green returns, and with good reason. For one thing, beauty items tend to be lower in cost. Plus, cosmetics and skincare items are often tried out before they are returned, meaning they can’t be resold. For these brands, processing a returned item would likely cost more than the product itself, resulting in a financial loss.

Green Returns also make sense for brands because customers care about the planet more than ever. According to a recent report from Google, more than 80% of consumers consider sustainability a more pressing issue today than it was pre-pandemic, and 75% of shoppers say they’re willing to pay more in retail for products and services from companies committed to positive social and environmental impact.

Customers value Earth-friendly business practices, and if you demonstrate that your business walks the walk by offering returnless refunds, you can build a deeper relationship with your customers, fostering brand trust and loyalty.

How AfterShip Returns helps brands win BFCM

Merchants need to be ready for the influx of returns requests during Black Friday / Cyber Monday, and the right returns management software can help retailers enhance the return and exchange experience, reduce returns-related costs, and retain and grow more revenue.

AfterShip Returns gives brands the tools to transform product returns into new opportunities thanks to comprehensive resolutions, including inflexible return and exchange options. With customizable return policy automation, in-app reverse logistics management, and extensive platform support, you can convert customers who make returns into brand advocates and drive significant revenue retention. Learn more.