You already prepare for holiday shopping by making your physical store and website festive, scouting out the best products, coming up with attractive deals, and enhancing your social media game to drive more traffic to your business. However, one thing you may have totally forgotten about is that not-so-exciting influx of product returns that happens once all the presents have been opened and Santa has returned to the North Pole for a well-deserved nap.
As it turns out, the same point of sale system that maximizes your efficiency and boosts profits and customer relationships before Christmas is still by your side improving your operations for this other, less savory reality.
The angst of holiday returns.
Undergoing the trials and tribulations of returns is never fun. In the past, you and your staff often needed to paw through drawers filled with receipts and purchase records to complete them. This led to long lines at the register and frustrated associates and customers. In some cases, buyers might have been so irritated that they never returned to your shop or website again.
Now that you have the accuracy and efficiency of a point of sale system to back you up, much of your previous angst can be nothing more than a bad memory. Thanks to your barcode scanner and the system’s database, it’s a breeze to retrieve the purchase record, enter the reason code, and refund method and provide the customer with the satisfaction they are seeking — all in a matter of a minute or so.
Use customer relationship management capabilities to turn a return into more purchases.
While you certainly want the return process to go quickly, that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the fact that the customer is physically in your store. Instead of simply processing the return and sending them on their way, why not use the details about the buyer that are already stored in your point of sale system to make recommendations and encourage the person to consider buying a similar item or an accompanying accessory?
Especially in the case of customers who are in the loyalty program that is run through your POS solution, you have access to some terrific details about their preferences and past shopping histories. Now is the time to make a few clicks and use these vital details to further enrich your relationship with this proven brand ambassador. Many people would, for instance, love it if you took note of the fact that they favor a particular designer or manufacturer and would take a second look at the special products you recommend.
Harness the POS reporting feature to make returns more profitable.
Since your POS is filled with data about your customers and the products they buy, it takes only a few clicks to create reports that can allow you to gain valuable insights about sales trends, buyer preferences, and stock counts. Getting this information before the returns season begins will give you a head start. Then it’s simply a matter of guiding customers who have come to bring back items toward others that fit their needs or perhaps even those that are languishing on your shelves.
At this point, you may have begun to detect a theme. The inventory management tools, efficiency, and information from your POS can combine with the personal touch of excellent customer service to convert the drudgery of a return into a fast and positive experience and possibly even an additional purchase tailored to the individual buyer. It’s all about using both your human and technological capabilities to the utmost.
Utilize return reason codes to improve your returns game.
Like any entrepreneur worth their salt, you are always looking for ways to elevate the overall quality of your operations not only for right now but in the future. One way to take away the sting of tomorrow’s returns is to take a look at why people are bringing merchandise back this year. Use your POS system to take a snapshot of the most often entered reason codes to see if there are any actions you can perform to improve inventory quality. You might even learn that you have to refine your returns policies and protocols.
Whatever the case, the data you discover today can lead to significant improvements in your best practices going forward. Meanwhile, be sure that your cashiers are thoroughly trained in how to quickly process returns with your POS to make current returns and exchanges run smoothly.
Ask most business owners how they feel about holiday returns, and most will say they fall somewhere between a root canal and an IRS audit. However, the versatility, efficiency, and flexibility of your point of sale system can reduce the pain and even convert many of these processes into positive purchases. If you’re not using your POS’s capabilities to the fullest, take time to learn about all of its features to maximize your efficiency and profits this season and throughout the year.
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