It’s always exciting to see a new sale come through on your website – until you find out later that the customer returned the product. Why does this keep happening, and more importantly, can it be prevented? The good news is that with the right website optimizations, you can significantly reduce returns in e-commerce. Below are our top recommendations to help you create a better shopping experience and minimize costly returns.
Top 5 Recommendations for Reducing Returns on E-commerce Sites
- Enhance Product Descriptions and Imagery – Ensuring your website accurately portrays its products with multiple high-quality images, videos, and proper descriptions is paramount to reducing returns.
Each product details page (PDP) on your site should show visuals of the product in use, from multiple angles, how it looks on a person or in a space, with a real person near it or using it, and dimensions, when appropriate. 360-degree views, AR try-ons, and close-ups of the product can help take your product pages to the next level.
Be sure to include the product’s size, weight, materials, and care instructions to set accurate expectations from the start. - Check Sizing & Fit Guides – If you sell clothing, shoes, auto parts, eyewear, jewelry, sports equipment, bedding, medical devices, orthopedic products, or furniture, check your sizing and fit guides to ensure they are still relevant.
While static charts work fine, customers appreciate AI-powered recommendations based on real user data and reviews even more. If you can predict what size a customer may need based on past purchases, that’s even better.
Allowing reviewers to indicate whether clothing runs small, true to size, or large can help reduce returns by giving customers a clearer idea of the best size to order. For footwear, details on whether shoes run narrow, wide, or true to size can improve sizing accuracy and customer satisfaction. For auto parts, a “check fit” table or set of dropdowns would help ensure compatibility with their vehicle, and for furniture, “see it in your space” with a 3D preview of what the piece may look like in their room can instill additional confidence. - Publish Reviews on PDPs – Allowing users to leave reviews on your product details pages can build trust with your site visitors and reduce the likelihood of returns. Providing customers with real-world recommendations on which to base their purchasing decisions on is a great way to give them the confidence they need to invest in your product. Make sure the reviews are genuine, though; allow customers to include all reviews, not just the five-star ones.
Take your site’s reviews to the next level by allowing customers to upload images and videos with their reviews.
Leverage your customers’ feedback and reviews by tracking the reasons for returns and using this information to improve products, descriptions, and the overall shopping experience. - Optimize the Checkout Experience – Test your checkout process on a variety of devices, browsers, and screen sizes. Make sure users will have a seamless experience every time.
Verify that customers receive a helpful confirmation message and email upon purchase completion.
If you can offer free shipping, that’s a major selling point for many people, but if you can’t, make it clear what your shipping fees are and how long you expect it to take for the item to arrive at its destination.
Warn your customers if there’s a frequently returned item in their cart. For example, a subtle notification that says, “Customers often size up for the best fit for this product.” can remind users to double-check the product’s sizing or dimensions.
While the “quick add” button can be helpful for increasing conversions, if your site struggles with frequent returns, you may want to consider removing that feature and requiring a visit to your PDPs before adding to their cart. - Offer Post-Purchase Support – Once a customer transacts on your website, add them to a drip campaign that emails them with setup guides, styling ideas, and care tip reminders to prevent misuse. These emails should also include information about your exchange options – instead of only offering easy returns, suggest an exchange or return for store credit.
Additional CRO Strategies to Reduce Returns
While the strategies above are essential for any e-commerce business, some companies may want to take a more advanced approach with CRO-specific techniques to further minimize returns.
Dynamic personalization is a strategy that uses AI-powered product and sizing recommendations to tailor a user’s experience on your site. Having a size auto-selected by default on the PDP and showing suggestions like, “Best Fit for You” or “A Size 8 Would Fit Best” based on browsing behavior, past purchases, or previous returns can be extremely helpful to users.
Enhance your product pages even more by displaying low-stock alerts, return policy callouts, compare features, and a live chat widget.
Additionally, adding an AI Summary to your PDP reviews with pros and cons can help users get an idea of how customers feel about your products overall.
Reduce Returns, Increase Customer Satisfaction
Reducing returns in e-commerce isn’t just about protecting your bottom line; it’s about creating a better shopping experience that fosters customer trust and long-term loyalty. By optimizing product pages, improving sizing accuracy, leveraging reviews, polishing the checkout process, and offering post-purchase support, you can significantly cut down on unnecessary returns while boosting customer satisfaction.
For brands looking to take it a step further, implementing dynamic personalization, AI-powered recommendations, and smart checkout notifications can provide an even more tailored experience that helps customers make confident purchasing decisions.
Ready to see how CRO can improve your product pages and reduce return rates on your site? Connect with one of our experts today.
