The popularity of online shopping has soared over the last few years, thanks, in part, to the ease of the returns process.
In fact, nearly one-third of everything ordered online is sent back, compared with just 8.89 per cent of goods bought in stores, according to Invesp.
It also revealed 92 per cent of consumers will buy something if the returns process is simple. To meet the demand for being able to return things easily, almost half of retailers provide free return shipping these days.
With 79 per cent of customers wanting it to be free to send back goods, ecommerce companies need to have a simple, quick returns procedure that does not cost themselves a lot.
Signing up to returns management solutions is one option, as it outsources the handling of the process to someone else.
They are responsible for providing clear instructions to customers, and putting return labels in the packages, so it is easy for consumers to understand how they can send their purchases back.
Indeed, nearly half of shoppers (47 per cent) want an easy-to-print return label with their item, so all they have to do is post it.
The service also inspects the items that are returned to make sure they are still in good condition.
Goods that can still be sold are then returned to the stock and the inventory is updated. For those that cannot be sold, the ecommerce site is notified and they can decide what to do with the product.
They also provide reports for the online retailer, so they can stay up to date with what goods are regularly being sent back. They can use this data to establish patterns or alter their stock so fewer pieces are rejected by their customers in the future.