Disadvantages of Manual Return management

In today's e-commerce world, technology plays a big role in all aspects. Like it or not, all business persons must consider managing their business digitally, including the returning process. Managing the return process manually can make things more complicated. For more details, you can consider some of the losses that could happen if you implement manual return management below!

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E-commerce Returns Management Dichotomy 

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As you can observe, currently, there is a big difference or contrast between big e-commerce players like Amazon, and Alibaba and even big marketplaces in Indonesia like Shopee, Tokopedia, Lazada, and others. In several aspects, these differences can be seen in terms of the management of returns.

Large online industry players certainly have a team dedicated to managing product returns, not just a team that manages products in warehouses. Many of them develop software to optimize the return process to recover the maximum value from each item returned. You could say the product return process is a complex problem that requires sophisticated solutions and you can't mess around with this one thing.

But not all business owners can afford to dedicate the hefty costs of setting up automated returns management. New and growing small business owners struggle to manage returns well. Manual returns management operations can be costly and inefficient and can result in a less-than-satisfactory customer experience.

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Disadvantages of Manual Return Process

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If a customer buys your product then they can also return it for some reason. Most shoppers or 30% to 50% of shoppers are confirmed to have a product return experience the entire time they shop. Without an effective return system, most of these shoppers may be so dissatisfied with your system or return policy that they will no longer want to shop at your store. Buyers in modern times like today are more demanding than ever before. A seamless return process is essential to creating 

a satisfying customer experience. Manual return process flows are often cases of closed procedures and have communication barriers.

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Manual Return Flow 

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Typically, the return process begins with the customer contacting the email address or phone number listed on the website. After a series of communications, the business owner or seller will usually instruct the customer to send the product back. As it is known that a business owner or seller must be able to implement their return policy very well.

Without a sophisticated workflow, the return process can be a time-consuming task for customer service, especially to confirm whether the product to be returned by the customer meets the criteria for returns. This can also cause confusion to implement a return policy while maintaining customer satisfaction.

In a manual return system, you have to notify your own customer if the product does not meet the return requirements and this information may upset the customer and ask you to relax your policy. This problem can actually be solved if you use automated returns management instead of manual.

Once the items arrive at the seller's shop, members of the warehouse team will receive the products and record their arrival in a document. From there, the customer service representative will confirm that the item is exchangeable or not and if so, the officer or staff will send news to the customer via email and send a return ticket.

Meanwhile, the warehouse team must direct the item or product to its next destination – whether it be returned to store inventory, sold elsewhere, or disposed of.

The entire manual restore process usually lacks integration between components. Sellers will also have a hard time tracking orders placed by customers who return the item. The result is that the return process is inefficient. For some sellers, it can take almost two weeks for returns to be fully processed. But by using the right return software like ReturnKey, they can process it within minutes.

In addition, the manual return system will also make it difficult for customers to return the items they ordered and find out whether these items can be returned or not.

By using Returnkey, buyers can easily make their own returns and sellers don't have to bother checking emails, responding to or sending return tickets to customers.

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Hassle-free Manual Return Process

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The manual return process isn't ideal for sellers or small business owners, although it can be successful for a while. However, when you encounter a problem, you will definitely think again about implementing a manual restore system.

As your business grows, you should expect a decrease in product return rates or an increase in service in the return process. A manual return system can be very inconvenient and detrimental to you in the future. It's possible that you have to incur more operational costs when implementing a manual return process.

When you prioritize customer service by making contact between you and the buyer slowly via email, the return process will be very time consuming. That's why you should switch to using return management software as your business grows. 

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Benefit of Return Management Software 

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The good news is you can use a solution like ReturnKey which provides an automated return process. You no longer need to bother manually managing product returns and contacting customers via email, checking goods and doing other work that is time-consuming. You can get more time to grow your business regardless of the return process you have to manage.

Investing in e-commerce return automation is an investment in your business that can be very profitable later. It is undeniable, by using return software, you can get more customers and increase sales in your business as long as you can provide good service to customers. Returnkey can help your business in returning goods and reduce the burden on your business so that you can minimize the amount of losses incurred as a result of the return process.

In other words, ReturnKey will not only help you in the return process but also help you provide a valuable experience for your customers while increasing profits in your business. So, you don't need to hesitate to use this device because you can get many advantages compared to just relying on returning goods manually.

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