Display shipping, return, and refund policies prominently
Back in 2008, UPS and Forrester conducted a joint study (PDF) on return policies, and found the following:
- 81% of participants agreed with the statement ‘If an online retailer makes it easier for me to return a product, I am more likely to buy from that retailer’.
- 81% agreed with the statement ‘I am more loyal to retailers that have generous return policies (e.g free return shipping, ability to return any time for any reason)’.
- 73% agreed with the statement ‘I am less likely to buy in the future from an online retailer when the returns process is a hassle’.
Refund policies are game-changers. Offer a generous, simple return policy and display it on the homepage.
This is less important for well-known brands, as people will be familiar with the return policy or assume that there is one. For unknown retailers, though, customer trust is an uphill battle. A website needs to be obvious about its return policy, especially when competing against e-commerce giants like Amazon and Zappos.