Deliveries are never "fashionably" late
- Laura Lutener
Returns are one of the inescapable perils of eCommerce. Without the ability to physically see and touch an item in store, there is never a 100% guarantee that your customers will like it when it arrives. And of course, with items like clothes, shoes and fashion accessories, you have a much higher likelihood of returns. Not only do customers need to try on the items before making their final decision, but often they will order multiple sizes or colours of the same item with the specific intention of returning at least half of their purchase. This can really hurt your revenue as sales that were in the bag (pun fully and unapologetically intended) are lost, not to mention the time and money spent on processing the admin and returning the item to stock.
There isn’t a lot you can do about this as a fashion retailer. Well, there are options involving AR or live commerce to try and assist customers in decision making before they purchase. But that’s a story for another day.
So if we can’t stop someone from buying the same pair of shoes in three sizes and then losing 2/3 of the sale, what can we do?
Other big reasons for returns include damaged goods – you’ll have to talk to have words with your shipping company or perhaps reconsider your packaging if this is a frequent issue. The next big reason is late delivery. Imagine the customer frustration when items arrive late; for example a gift arriving after the birthday party, or a killer outfit turning up the week after the big event. Now this is a problem we can help you with!
If you take control of every factor you can influence, then at least the overall loss to your business is reduced and the combined effect will have additional benefits such as improved user experience, gaining you more conversions and repeat customers. To quote a certain supermarket, every little really does help.
So, how can we fix returns due to late delivery?
It’s simple. The most common cause of missing or late deliveries is bad address data. Errors such as a spelling mistake or an incomplete address can cause a parcel to get delayed while admin staff work out the right destination; or lost entirely if they are unable to decipher it.
People make mistakes, it happens. And when you’re squeezing your eyes shut so you don’t have to look at the price of that fantastic sequin jacket that you just have to have for the office Christmas party, who could blame you? But merchants still need that complete set of contact and delivery information to get the dress delivered to the right place in time!
This is where Fetchify comes in.
Even with one eye shut, your customers can probably get in the first few letters of their address, and with our industry-leading address search algorithm, that’s all they need to get an accurate and validated result. We’ll do the rest. Once the customer clicks on the right address, we auto-fill the form with the correct data in the correct fields. Accurate address data gathered at point of entry, every time.
So that’s one cause for returns nipped in the bud. And as an added bonus, having Address Auto-Complete in your checkout also makes the whole journey much faster, speeding your customers through before they can have second thoughts about the sequins.
Start your free trial with Fetchify today and see the difference for yourself. If you have any questions, out expert team are always happy to help. Just get in touch at support@fetchify.com.
About Fetchify
We are a pioneer in SaaS address lookup and data validation solutions. We process millions of data transactions each day for thousands of clients ranging from small e-commerce startups to large household brands such as Heinz and RBS. Our flagship products Address Auto-Complete and Postcode Lookup reduce friction on checkouts, leading to increases in conversion rate of up to 40%, and helps reduce failed deliveries by as much as 75%. Since launching in 2008, we have differentiated by our ease of integration and exceptional support.
