return policies
Return Policies: It
Have you reviewed yours lately? by: Paula Jones
does not matter if we are in a tough economy or living in an affluent community, products get returned to our store. There are many reasons
for returns, and the whole return experience needs to be as transparent and pleasant as possible to maintain excellent customer service. Your staff needs to be clear on your stores return policy, and certainly as store owners you need to know the cost of returns on your business. When was the last time you reviewed your return policy? Take a few minutes and determine if changes, updates or evaluations are needed for your store.
Is your policy posted clearly for all customers to see? It should be posted next to registers, as well as on your receipts and websites. Have you ever taken an inventory of what returns are costing your business? Have you taken into account the credit card fees you pay, with both the initial purchase and the return? Take a few moments to ask yourself a few important questions about your current return policy.
• Do you take back all merchandise? Are there limitations, such as in packaging, length of time since purchase, or a defective product?
• If the product is defective, are there clear guidelines to ascertain how the product became defective; if it was the manufacturers’ process or through normal wear and tear or customer abuse.
• Do returns require an original receipt for a refund? If there is no receipt what is your policy?
• Are address and identification needed to make the refund, and is this information recorded for future follow up? Large department stores keep ID from customers who returned items on file, and flag any name with two or more returns; in this way the store can track and potentially prosecute repeat offenders, who stole goods from several of their stores, and returned items for refunds.
40 scrapbook business
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