Return & Exchange
Return and Exchange
All sales are final. If there is a manufacturing defect, item must be sent back to be reviewed by quality assurance department to see if a replacement shall be issued. Item must be returned within 6 days of shipping date.
A Guide to Return and Refund Policies
Returns and refunds are one element of the ecommerce business model that can trip up ecommerce businesses. Your business needs clear return and refund policies because, as research from Baymard Institute shows, an inadequate returns policy is one of the top reasons people end up abandoning their shopping cart:
Plus, without clear policies, customers might make assumptions — and become frustrated if you can’t meet them. Despite the importance of clear return and refund policies, crafting them in easily understandable language can be a challenge.
We’ve created this guide to help online businesses like yours craft clear, effective return and refund policies. We also built a template generator (which you can view by inputting your email address above) to use as the foundation of your policies.
Ecommerce refunds and returns: A guide to your store’s policies
There are millions of ecommerce stores already running, most of which already have refund and return policies in place. You can copy/paste your policy from a competitor, but many policies floating around the internet aren’t actually that helpful or clear. The best approach is to build out your own policies, following industry best practices adapted to fit your business.
How common are returns in ecommerce?
A recent study shows that around 25% of online shoppers admit to returning between 5% and 15% of what they buy. And a troubling 7.92% of shoppers claim to return over half of what they buy online. Another NRF report finds that 16.6% of merchandise from online retail sales was returned in 2021.
Experiencing too many returns? Read our guide to reducing returns in ecommerce.
Why should you trust us?
Gorgias is partnered with leading ecommerce platforms and tools — we’re proud to be a certified Shopify Plus partner. In addition, we’ve worked with thousands of online store owners to develop revenue-generating customer service, reduce friction in returns and refunds, and improve customer experience.
Our customers are experts in their niches. We work closely with brands of all sizes while they build and operate online stores. One of our values is being customer-first, which we live out through constant communication and feedback. In other words, our work is informed by trial and error from 10,000+ online stores. And, we’re always here to share what we learn. Here’s what we want you to know about refunds and returns for your online store.
Our customers are experts in their niches. We work closely with brands of all sizes while they build and operate online stores. One of our values is being customer-first, which we live out through constant communication and feedback. In other words, our work is informed by trial and error from 10,000+ online stores. And, we’re always here to share what we learn. Here’s what we want you to know about refunds and returns for your online store.
What is a return policy?
A return policy states the rules and conditions about when, whether, and for how long customers can return purchases and be reimbursed for those returned purchases.
A return policy outlines which types of items are included or excluded from the general policy, as well as any exceptions to the general policy (such as certain categories of items with a shorter return window or others that cannot be returned).
Both your refund and return policies should outline how customers can expect to be reimbursed (e.g., whether you offer cash refunds or gift cards) as well.
Why do you need a refund and return policy?
A clear and fair return and refund policy establishes your credibility and protects both you and your customers from claims of unethical behavior. It can also bolster customer retention rate (because customers will appreciate the option to refund or return products they don’t like) and conversion rate (because customers are willing to buy new products if they know a refund or return is possible).
Here are three reasons your business needs these policies in place.
Your competitors likely offer a refund and return policy
First, if you fail to offer a clear refund and return policy, you may be the only one to do so among your competitors.
Remember, customers often have a degree of distrust of ecommerce brands — especially when taking a chance on a new or unfamiliar brand. Customers therefore look for a clear and generous refund and return policy before purchasing from a store for the first time.
If you don’t have a clear policy (or if yours is more restrictive), some customers will abandon their cart and move on to a competitor with a clearer or better policy (such as free returns).
If customers are dissatisfied with your product, you need a process that’s ready to go
The saying “you can’t please everybody” comes to mind here: No matter how much care you put into your products, some customers aren’t going to be happy. And a tiny percentage is going to go beyond unhappy — more like anger or rage.
In those uncomfortable moments, you want to have a process and policy that’s ready to go. Any lack of clarity from your customer service team can further escalate a negative encounter. But with a clear and consistent policy in place, your customer support team can provide a consistent, objective customer experience.
For more on responding to customers who are less than thrilled, check out our guides on responding to customer complaints and angry customer emails, or use our free set of 27 customer service scripts to help defuse tense situations.
Refund and return policies give customers peace of mind, which can drive higher sales
When you deliver a consistent, easy-to-understand ecommerce experience, your customers relax that distrust we mentioned earlier. And when you give customers greater peace of mind, they tend to spend more.
When customers trust that they won’t get stuck with merchandise that doesn’t fit or doesn’t work for them, they’re more likely to buy. Yes, that means your return rate goes up. But if your average order value and your overall sales go up even higher, it’s still a net win.
Once you create your clear refund and return policy, we recommend making it highly visible during the shopping. Parachute, for example, lets browsers know they have free and carbon-neutral shipping on every product page. If a customer is on the fence about a purchase, this might nudge them to make the purchase.
