A shopper’s relationship with a brand doesn’t end at checkout. The post-purchase part of the journey – specifically around returns – is ripe with opportunity for retailers to grow brand loyalty, deepen relationships, and transform potential detractors into brand ambassadors.
The post-purchase and return-related phases play an increasingly important role in customer satisfaction, so brands need the right people and technology in place to meet customers’ needs in those moments. Retailers that aren’t focusing on these touchpoints are missing opportunities to improve customer satisfaction, foster repeat business, and grow revenue.
With return-related interactions on the rise, retailers should be using these touchpoints to deepen their relationship with customers. This is especially true for e-commerce brands, which tend to see a higher return rate than brick-and-mortar stores.
Turn potential detractors into active promoters
Retailers’ handling of returns plays a key role in keeping customers. If returning an item is arduous, inconvenient, or
contentious, customers are likely to make their future purchases elsewhere. Reduce churn by making returns easy.
Empower customers to start the return process when and how they want by offering self-service options. Not every interaction requires a human touch; delegate those that don’t to chatbots, IVAs, and autonomous AI agents that can handle simple requests quickly. This frees up associates to focus on more nuanced interactions.
Establishing automated self-service return portals, providing instant refunds to repeat buyers and loyalty program members, and otherwise streamlining the returns process will boost associate efficiency, reduce costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Also important: make it easy for automation to hand off to a human associate when needed.
Hybrid retailers that have an online and brick-and-mortar presence should embrace an omnichannel process to make returns seamless for customers. Give shoppers the option, for instance, of buying a product online but returning it in-store.
It’s important for return-related interactions to be quick, but they also need to be empathetic. Customers trying to make a return are already entering an interaction dissatisfied, which can heighten emotions and add a sense of urgency, so associates need to come from a place of understanding.
When associates are empathetic and can offer a quick and easy resolution, interactions that could have been relationship enders are transformed into relationship builders.
Put AI-powered insights to work
The best way to serve customers is to understand them, and the best way to do that is to dive deeply into your data. Get a firm grasp on how returns-related interactions are going (what customers like, what frustrates them, where associates need help) by tapping into data in your contact center.
Use conversation AI to listen to all interactions and identify patterns and trends. Then put those AI-powered insights in the hands of quality experts who can use them to inform business decisions and suggest best next steps.
When a high-end retailer wanted a clearer picture of customer sentiment, TTEC worked with our strategic partner LevelAI to help. We implemented TTEC Insights, which uses LevelAI technology to listen to and analyze 100% of customer interactions across all customer support channels.
Among the insights it uncovered:
- 10% of interactions about returns were customers asking specifically about return labels
- 17% of those with return enquiries were repeat contacts
Armed with those insights, our quality experts took a closer look at the customer journey and recommended letting customers print their own return labels from the company website. It was a relatively simple change that made a big impact, improving CX and reducing contacts.
Traditional quality assurance tools analyze less than 3% of interactions. It doesn’t make sense to craft a CX strategy – returns-focused or otherwise – based on such a small sample size. Tap into the power of conversation intelligence to learn from every interaction happening in the contact center.
AI-enhanced insights can improve more than just customer experience; they can transform associate coaching as well. By listening to every conversation, contact center leaders can easily identify – in real time – what drives associate success during returns-related interactions and use that knowledge to improve associate training and coaching.
Working with Level AI, we helped a nutrition supplement company gain a better sense of how customer interactions were going. We then expanded and improved the brand’s coaching strategy and made it highly customizable to individual associates. The results? A 97% jump in productivity and a 9% rise in customer sentiment score.
Maximize the value of returns interactions
The returns process is a touchpoint where retailers should consider introducing (or augmenting) service-to-sales efforts. There’s great potential to uncover hidden sales opportunities during these interactions – but the timing, delivery, and customization of sales offers are key.
Nothing is more off-putting than an unwanted sales attempt that feels forced, especially when customers making returns may already be frustrated. AI can identify which types of offers are most likely to resonate with the right customers at the right moments. Often, a returns resolution can be an upsell or cross-sell; AI can eliminate the guesswork and identify those opportunities.
At TTEC, we help brands use conversational AI to listen to 100% of interactions to understand customer sentiment around returns. That enables us to craft a customized sales pitch based not only on the return intent but, more specifically, based on the reason for the return.
One of AI’s greatest benefits is the huge volume of data and insights it can produce. We leverage AI-powered tools to not only identify patterns but also to create associate training modules. Our Discovery Wizard and Content Wizard take information from all conversations to create customized training and coaching bots that let associates practice and master skills. We also measure the execution with advanced reporting, making changes as needed.
Brands that aren’t maximizing the value of every return-related interaction with an AI-powered service to sales strategy could be leaving money on the table.
Combat fraud with intelligent automation
The return process, unfortunately, can be ripe for fraud. AI can help here, too.
Fraud is an expensive problem for retailers, and it’s often tied to returns. In 2023, 7% of all returns made at retailers were fraud or abuse and merchants lost a total of $101 billion due to return abuse and fraud, according to Ekata.
AI-powered tools can predict and identify fraud instances through the use of model training, labelling, and machine learning models. They can find patterns, flag anomalies, and predict actions in real time.
This technology, working in tandem with human fraud investigators who know your brand well, can provide the always-on vigilance brands need to protect customers and brand reputation.
Working with an expert CX partner that specializes in retail and e-commerce is great way to tap into the AI-powered insights, service-to-sales, and fraud-fighting tools you need to elevate your CX without breaking the bank.
