| Your customers are wise buyers. And wise buyers are often meticulous! Trust me. They won’t just hover their mouse to “Buy now” especially if what you’re selling is clothing. We’ve all seen and experienced the horror when expectations do not match reality AT ALL. It’s therefore expected that they’ll have a lot of what ifs before they make the purchase. What if the shirt won’t fit me? What if it only looks good in photos? And oh, what if my order won’t arrive? That’s why STORE POLICIES are a must. Store policies are what helps customers calm the doubts they might have. It also protects you from customers who try to harass you! Having your own policies and making sure it’s readily accessible will surely give your customers some confidence in shopping. They know that if something goes wrong with their order, the store owner has a solution ready. That’s ACCOUNTABILITY for all, and that’s how it should be with any store, but especially to online stores where you can’t easily hound the seller. |
Here are some of our most important store policies. We’ll share with you how to handle customer issues concerning shipping, returns, and damaged goods.
CUSTOMER DIDN’T RECEIVE ORDER
If the carrier failed to deliver the items despite their best efforts, they will send the items back to our facility. We will then store them in our storage facility for FREE.
Once we receive returned items, we will inform our customers of the situation.
The customer (you) has exactly 30 days to contact their customers and make another attempt to ship the returned items.
WHAT TO TELL THE CUSTOMER:
| Dear [Customer Name], Your order was returned by [name of shipping carrier] because [reason]. If you want us to reship the order, please reach out to your customer and confirm that their shipping information is correct. Swaggin charges shipping costs for reshipments. It is up to you and your customer on who should shoulder the cost of reshipment. If you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards, Swaggin Team |
HOW TO MINIMIZE UNDELIVERED ITEMS
| 1 in every 20 online orders is not delivered on the first attempt. And the average cost of failed delivery: $16! Even if it’s their fault, the customer will be turned off by failed deliveries and it’s almost a guarantee they’ll never purchase from your store again. It’s unfair because most of the time, the reason for returned orders is a customer mistyping their address. Here are some tips to prevent this from happening often:
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ORDER RETURNED BY THE CUSTOMER
Wrong size? Wrong color? Wrong item?
There will be points in time where you will have to deal with items that have been directly returned by your customers. It’s a pain in the foot but it’s part of the business.
To help us prevent having these surprise returns, it would be best to do the following:
- Inform your customers that they are obliged to notify you if they plan on returning the item. Do not just let them ship the item when you still have to discuss the reason and negotiate for the return (if it is indeed your fault and not theirs). Some reasons are just too hard to pass as reasonable, i.e. not wanting the item anymore.
- Make a return policy and make sure they agree to it. Tip: Always bear in mind to never let your customers abuse these policies or you’ll be the ones to suffer. Write the policy to protect your company from complaints and return requests that do not make sense.
WHAT TO TELL THE CUSTOMER:
There are many different reasons why customers might want to return the items they’ve ordered, so here are some responses you can use.FOR DAMAGED ITEMS
Dear [customer name], We apologize for the inconvenience. Here at [your company name], each order is subject to a multi-step quality check before we ship them out. However, if it is verified that there were damaged or mislabeled items that accidentally passed our quality control, or were damaged during transit, then we will take full responsibility for it. We will give you a free replacement. Our team will be looking into the order so I ask you to please share to us a detailed description of the problem. If you must, you can add high quality photos of the product where the issue can be visible. Once you have the photos ready, file a problem report no later than 30 days after the customer has received the order. Our customer service staff will be in touch with you and help figure out the best solution. We’ll be very glad to assist you with this. Sincerely, [Your company name] BUYER’S REMORSE
Swaggin does not offer refunds for buyer’s remorse, so it would be up to you on how you want to face this, whether you refund your customer’s order or not. Here are some tips to prevent this from happening:
IMPORTANT NOTE:If you want to offer reshipment for buyer’s remorse, bear in mind that you (or your customer) will be responsible for the fulfillment and shipping costs, and not Swaggin.
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO OFFER REFUND/ REPLACEMENT
Dear [customer name], We understand your frustration. However, upon reviewing your complaint, we’re very sorry to hear that you wish to return your order. Unfortunately, our return policy does not cover buyer’s remorse so we won’t be able to offer a refund for your order. Thank you for understanding. Sincerely, [Your company name] SIZE EXCHANGES
Wrongly ordered sizes are not covered by Swaggin’s Return Policy so this is not eligible for refund. You see, we make everything on demand, and a size exchange request would mean that Swaggin will produce an entirely new product from scratch. To prevent this from happening, make sure you put a chart of your sizes. Don’t just put Small, Medium, Large. Put a measurement chart like this: |
WAYS TO MINIMIZE RETURNED ORDERS
Returned orders are stressful for all parties involved especially if you’re printing on demand. To prevent this from happening, we encourage you to do the following:
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LOST ORDERS
Since we’ve covered all the policies under Swaggin’s return policy, let’s move on to the lost orders.
All the shipping methods Swaggin have are tracked, though the accuracy may differ for some couriers. If the estimated delivery date has already passed and your customer hasn’t received their order yet, the package may have been lost in transit.
Step 1: Send the tracking code
We use UPS and each of our items can be tracked.
Check records of your orders to verify the status of the delivery.
Step 2: Confirm with your customer if they put the correct shipping info.
If the shipping info is correct and the delivery status says DELIVERED, then reply with:
We’re glad that the address was correct. It shows here that the order is delivered.
If your package still hasn’t arrived, then we recommend getting in touch with your local post office. Also check in with your neighbors to ask if they might have seen your package.
If the shipping info is incorrect, then chances are it’s sent back to our warehouse.
We’re sorry that you made a mistake with the shipping info. There’s a chance that your item was sent back to our facility. We will let our team look into it and update you.
Meanwhile, we suggest that you contact the courier directly to clarify the status of your item.
If you have questions and concerns, don’t hesitate to contact us. We will help you every step of the way. But if you want things easier, post these policies on your website for your customers to read.
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