5 Tips For Better Your Black Friday Returns in 2024

The Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) period is an opportune time for online retailers to multiply their sales and increase revenue, with some customers waiting all year long to grab mouth-watering deals during the week.

The downside of all this activity is that it can be a stressful time for you and your business if you don't have an efficient returns process and policies set up in advance.

If that's the case, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. This article unboxes some surefire tips that can turn your eCommerce returns into second-chance sales.

Surefire tips to stay on top of Black Friday and Cyber Monday returns

eCommerce returns are inevitable, especially during peak shopping seasons. But you can manage them and turn them into new business opportunities with smart and easy return rules. Let’s dive deeply into the 5 best tips to improve your BFCM returns this season.

1. Save time with automated returns

Customer satisfaction is the key to success in any eCommerce business, and automated returns can boost customer satisfaction by making the process faster and easier for you and your customers.

Automating your returns process can benefit your business in many ways, such as:

Speeding up the returns process
Reducing costs associated with processing returns
Eliminating the need for paper return labels
No manual errors resulting in increased accuracy
A quick and effortless return process increasing customer satisfaction
Reducing WISMO (where is my order) queries

AfterShip Returns lets you manage product returns and exchanges more efficiently with advanced automation rules that significantly reduce the time it takes to process returns. You can easily reduce the overall cost of returns and optimize delivery time by auto-updating the RMA status once the shipment is delivered.

Moreover, you can avoid unnecessary returns with smart eligibility rules for:

Returns window
Non-returnable items
Eligible returns per order
Allowlist and blocklist items

2. Recapture revenue from returns

Don't let product returns eat into your online profits. How you choose to handle returns can have a significant impact on your bottom line as well as on your relationships with your customers. If handled efficiently, returns can be a source of revenue, adding as much as five percent to total sales.

Our study of returns for more than 1,400 merchants during BFCM 2023 revealed one simple fact: the more options you provide during the returns process, the more revenue is retained.

With that in mind, you can employ a number of smart strategies to recapture revenue from product returns. Try these:

Turn refunds into exchanges

Let your customers indulge in exchanges by suggesting the best alternatives for the products they intend to return. Perhaps they are looking for a different style, color, or size of the same product and can find the ideal replacements quickly with your effortless exchanges. Using automation, you can offer exchanges during the returns process (instead of requiring customers reach out to customer support).

Extend the return window for exchanges

Though 80% of the returns happen within 14 days, the return window of most eCommerce brands is 30 days. You can play smart here by extending the return window for exchanges to 30-45 days and keeping the refund time window to 15-20 days. This concession gives your customers the impression that you value their loyalty and want them to have sufficient time to pick the right product.

Offer incentives on exchanges

The best way to persuade customers to prefer an exchange over a refund is through offers, discounts, and coupons. Encourage customers to choose exchanges over refunds by offering them lucrative incentives and turning your losses into new business opportunities.

Offer free shipping on exchanges

The age of free returns may be coming to a close, but free shipping on exchanges is another great way to encourage customers to eschew refunds. You can play smart here too. Offer free shipping only for exchanges and charge a small fee if customers opt for refunds. The psychology of free shipping works like a charm.

3. Improve your return policy

Product returns are detrimental to your business. However, restricting product returns or having a strict return policy wouldn’t save you money in the long run because the nature of your return policy can significantly impact your customer’s shopping behavior. Ultimately, it boils down to making your customers’ lives easy with a simple, straightforward, and cost-effective return policy.

Generally, better deals and discounts during BFCM lead to more sales, which means more product returns. (Consumer habits during this period are also different. Practices like wardrobing or bracketing are much more common when people chase FOMO-based deals.)

Thankfully, retailers can reduce or turn these returns into potential sales with smart return rules. Here’s how you can improve your return policy:

Non-returnables and partial returns

Minimize return requests by including non-returnable and partial return rules in your return policy. Customers love transparency, so let them know upfront which items are eligible for return and which are not. It not only helps in reducing unnecessary calls to your support team but also enhances customer experience.

Limited returns

Don't be shy about setting specific limits during the BFCM period. For instance, you can tighten return windows from 30 days to 15 or even 7. Or, if it fits your business model, you can limit returns to a single item. This can prevent people from purchasing different sizes of the same SKU, an expensive problem in verticals like fashion.

Flexible exchange option

As we stated above, it’s wise to offer a flexible exchange option as part of your return policy to minimize returns and maximize your profits. More options for exchanges or replacement lead to greater return revenue. If this is the case, be explicit about it in your return policy and on your website to reassure customers who might otherwise be hesitant to buy.

4. Go green with eco-friendly returns

Accepting returns is not easy for eCommerce businesses as it not only consumes a significant amount of time but also incurs a bevy of additional costs that eat into your bottom line—shipping, replacing or repackaging damaged items, inspection and restocking costs, etc.

With green returns, you can cut shipping costs, save on supply chain costs, reduce unwanted waste, and eliminate carbon emissions. And more importantly, you can reward your loyal customers and turn them into brand advocates.

A green returns policy is more suited for non-durable and inexpensive products where return-less refunds bring in more benefits than harm, and the bonus is that it will significantly reduce the cost and environmental footprint of processing and handling returns.

AfterShip Returns proudly supports an eco-friendly returns policy that allows retailers to enable green returns wherein the customers can get refunds without needing to return.

AfterShip's 2021 study of green returns found that the majority of brands offer this style of returns for lower cost items, which makes sense. If the unit cost of the item is more than the cost of shipping, inspecting, and restocking (or if the item can't be restocked and needs disposal), then green returns are healthy not only for the planet but for your revenue as well.

5. Secure your inventory levels

In today's hyper-competitive marketplace, inventory management often takes a back seat. That's an issue because it's a critical aspect of any eCommerce business.

Allocate some time for purchasing and production decisions and plan well in advance what products you will promote over BFCM so you can stock accordingly.

Restock the returned products as quickly as possible to get them back into circulation. You can also increase the exchange inventory so that customers don’t get an out-of-stock message when they want to exchange. AfterShip Returns helps you update your inventory directly using automation rules to restock returned items when the shipment is marked received. Learn more about our auto-restock feature here.

A well-managed returns process will enable you to get ahead of the game and fetch more from your BFCM campaigns. With so many advanced features available, you are sure to find an AfterShip Returns plan that meets your needs and budget.