How to write a returns policy

By law, a customer is entitled to a return or a refund on a product that is damaged or a product that doesn’t function as advertised. If it happens that your product would be ineligible for a refund or return in any other case, then it may be that a returns policy isn’t necessary for your website at all. While it can be beneficial for the sake of transparency to your customer to declare that you don’t accept refunds or returns, it is not a requirement that you make the legislation behind this clearly accessible on your platform.

If returns are on the table for your product, however, then an effective returns policy can provide your customers with quick access to all the information they need to initiate a return in a simple and easy-to-read format. Creating a returns policy also allows you to place conditions on a return. These conditions might be that it must be returned within a certain timeframe, or that items are only eligible for store credit. These are the primary purposes behind putting a returns policy in place. A good returns policy should be helpful and clear for your customer whilst also allowing you as a business to take control.

Don’t be overly formal. You’re not drafting a legal document; the law is already incredibly clear on the rights of shoppers. You’re making a policy that should be easy to understand and should be written in such a way that a customer can easily extract the information they need by scanning through. So, no legalese!

 Don’t make it difficult to find. Preventing frustration is a key crux of the returns policy, so burying it deep within your sites infrastructure is the antithesis of what a good returns policy should stand for.

Don’t contradict yourself. You will notice clarity is a theme throughout this guide. If you have different policies for different products, clearly divide your page into sections so that no information appears to contradict itself. 

At the start we mentioned a modern-day online shopping habit known as bracketing, where customers purchase multiple products with the intention of returning at least one as a way of trailing different styles or sizes. This practice has become incredibly prevalent over the years as a way of enjoying some of the benefits of high-street shopping without having to leave home.

While this may sound frustrating, it actually opens up a unique opportunity to leverage your returns policy as a marketing tool to boost sales. As far as we can tell, bracketing isn’t going anywhere, so by embracing your flexible returns policy and possibly even competing with other companies in your space, you can boost your product offering.

Advertise the benefits of your returns policy in your marketing materials and on your product pages, and you could not only see an increase in conversions, but also increased retention as a result of customer satisfaction. The purpose of bracketing is to achieve a positive shopping experience, so by facilitating that, you vastly increase the likelihood that a customer will come back for more. That’s not even to mention the potential for positive reviews, word of mouth and social media influence.

If you’re in a market where cart abandonment is a major risk for your conversion, then a clearly marked and confident returns policy or statement could make the difference.

Just be sure to factor in the refunds into your financing when you implement this strategy. It can be easy to get overexcited with the immediate increase in order sizes but remember some of that could come back in the form of a refund. Study your customers behaviour and make the necessary adjustments to targets and budget.