It’s that time of year, time for retail returns!
Most retail stores enthusiastically prepare for an extra busy holiday season by hiring extra staff and making sure they have the latest retail technology to take advantage of every sales opportunity. No one likes to think about the inevitable influx of retail returns coming in January, but preparing to deal with them early spares you time, labor expenses, and a lot of general headaches.
Having a mobile POS system with the features you need to manage those returns smoothly and efficiently tames the influx of traffic, retains your holiday profits, and prevents the retailer’s worst nightmare of putting returns away until spring.
Want to ensure your store and retail technology are ready for post holiday consumer returns? Ask yourself these three questions:
Can My Checkouts Handle An Influx Of Customers?
It was reported that nearly 18% of merchandise purchased is expected to be returned before the end of January. So not only will you have your normal amount of consumers, but adding in returns will increase the amount of customers you see in a day.
Don’t let extended checkout lines create a situation where you have impatient customers, walkouts, and bad online reviews. Instead, upgrade your retail returns management strategy by offering a mobile checkout solution specifically for retail returns.
Allow new shoppers to go to the normal checkout areas and set up a return only station at another location within your store. Creating this better workflow will eliminate the pain of long lines and allow for a better managed customer experience.
The best part about a mobile POS system is that it can go anywhere. So, if you notice one corner of the store isn’t getting much attention, move the return station there for a day or two to get more foot traffic to those racks.
Does My POS Software Have A Strong Enough Inventory Management Element to Handle Retail Returns?
Your POS solution needs to be able to handle all of the products you have both going out and coming back into your store. Updating inventory stock in real-time and getting returned items back on the shelves quickly is crucial for retaining as much of your holiday sales profit as possible. The longer an item sits in a return pile, the more value it loses.
Omnichannel POS Solutions Simplify In-Store and Online Retail Returns
Additionally, if you offer a multi-marketplace approach and have both in-store and online ordering options you want to make sure both have an accurate inventory at all times. This ensures customer satisfaction and helps retain customer loyalty.
Online returns itself can be a pain when trying to work out the return logistics. But if your solution has the right return merchandise authorization (RMA) this process can be a breeze for both you and the customer.
Never miss a sale with a retail solution that gives you all these items in one location. No need to swap back and forth on different POS systems or inventory spreadsheets. When removing the headache of inventory management you make room for more sales and a better profit margin on those returned products.
Is My Store Still Benefiting From Retail Returns?
When it comes to retail returns, you need to make sure your business is still benefiting from the transaction, even if a product is coming back to you without a swapped purchase in the same transaction.
Cash refunds and retail fraud are two of the largest drains on retail sales profits when retail returns season rolls around.
Cash Refunds
If a customer walks out from a return with only cash, there is no guarantee they will return to your store, thus losing that profit. Instead, offer store credit or a product swap to keep the money in-house. This will not only help you keep customers coming back for more, but will also help avoid refund fraud.
Refund Fraud
Be sure your staff is properly trained to identify return fraud as you do not want to take something back that was previously used, stolen, etc. This type of retail fraud is commonly seen throughout the holiday season. Retailers report seeing a 70% increase in fraudulent returns than other times of the year.
Keep Some Jingle Jangle in Your Step All Year With Retail Technology Equipped to Manage Any Situation!
You’ve made it through the holiday rush, now make sure you can last through the rush of the dreaded retail returns season.
After asking yourself the above questions, how would your store hold up to a rush of retail returns? Have you implemented the right retail technology for a successful returns environment? Take stock of your technology and evaluate your needs to make it through the aftermath of a busy holiday season.
