I am currently in the process of getting that returns process to work for another ecommerce site (for a brand). We are hoping to move from a manual process where you have some friendly chat with a customer service person to what you get on Amazon, i.e. 'hassle free', everything automated as much as possible.
Believe me, you have it easy compared to the manual process that most smaller ecommerce players labour under. Only if things like returns are automated can you actually scale the business. I have been struggling on Stack Overflow with getting the returns process, it seems to me that not many people get that far, the answers are a bit thin! So a stellare customer service with the returns labels is quite a thing.
Why so hard? Well, if the customer can be from anywhere on the planet and their original order could have been fulfilled by one or more warehouses around the globe, where do you check their return back in to? Once that is decided there is again a choice of couriers, all with different 'API' access to the labels. The end result is probably the same label with different numbers on in 90% of cases, nonetheless some API calls around the globe have to happen to get to the 'obvious' label that you just print out and stick onto the box.
The label also has to be something that can be checked in at the warehouse with some means of updating stock levels if it goes back into stock. Then there is the small matter of issuing a refund - full or partial. Then checking that refund has gone through the following morning, just in case. Then emailing you all is good. Including some custom coupon just for you to tempt you to buy something else.
Then the thing has to be tested. How do you test an order to Namibia gets returned properly? Or Ottowa? Or just normal Germany, where all those labels have to be translated? Or Japan where there are some issues with addresses and non-latin characters. Or Korea? Or plain Ireland, where there are no post codes.
Getting an order to Namibia (for example) is one thing, returning it and getting the original payment returned, all automagically, 'hassle free', well, that is a fine art. From my readings of Stack Overflow few make it to that depth of the ecommerce sales process.
Obviously my code will do the returns label at 'web speed' (instantly, customer in control) whereas the humans had to take up to 150 hours to get back to the customer with a returns label. Invariably they would mess up the credit memo and the stock would go out of the realms of accuracy fairly quickly. Total overhead for a returns is something like 30 mins for the various people needing to faff about with this 'easily' automated stuff.
Now I know what I know I can see how the retailers are on customer service, only if you are doing it 'the Amazon way' are you really able to profit online, selling through them or not.
Don't get me wrong - amazon returns are incredibly well done!
I'm just saying that even then, a return is still enough work that investing 15 minutes in reviews pays off, once you consider all the othet factors as well.
Wow.. and what if the reviewer sucks? That happens. What if you get a lemon? That happens. What happens if the reviewer is being paid? That happens.
Returning on Amazon is one of the easiest things to do on the planet.
What amazing products are you going to miss out on? Most of the stuff on Amazon is just re-branded FBA shit. Most of each category of consumer products come from the same factories in China. Go to Alibaba and source some stuff... It's what all the FBA'ers do.
> Wow.. and what if the reviewer sucks? That happens. What if you get a lemon? That happens. What happens if the reviewer is being paid? That happens.
Literally the entire value proposition of Wirecutter is that the reviewers are really good and unbiased because they spend a lot of time and effort analyzing products.
> What amazing products are you going to miss out on? Most of the stuff on Amazon is just re-branded FBA shit.
1. Wirecutter / Sweethome don't constrain their recommendations / reviews to things you can buy at Amazon.
2. You can buy an overwhelming number of electronics / products off of Amazon. To insinuate that it's all white-label rebrands is disingenuous.
I doubt any reviewer makes a perfect recommendation for a particular person. But honestly, for most things, Wirecutter, Cooks Illustrated, Consumer Reports (though don't use this much any longer), etc. will almost always get me to a good to very good choice quickly. And they're all transparent about their methodology and reasoning.
No one has time to do all their research from scratch themselves. (And I have zero interest in doing so.)
The Wirecutter! Get the BEST laptop, The BEST wifi router, The BEST blah, blah, blah. It's all bullshit. There is no BEST! And I doubt wirecutter is truly unbiased...
There is works and does not work. In the end, 98% of all consumer electronics are going to end up in a dump... generally right after the warranty is up. Live with that or live minimally AKA do without.
Reading the 5-star reviews is usually a waste of time. That's why I skip straight to the 1-star reviews to see if I can live with the product's most glaring defects.
For instance: "Not compliant with industry standard; may damage your hardware before failing." is one review that might make me steer clear of a product rated 4.5 stars.
"Product is counterfeit. If you examine the thingummy on the wowjammer, you can see a plastic tab that is not present on the genuine product, but clearly visible on this unbranded AliExpress listing..." is another that would scare me off.
Also, many of the crap-sellers will bend over backwards to get you to remove or update a negative review. Don't do it. You would be complicit in tricking your fellow customers.
> Also, many of the crap-sellers will bend over backwards to get you to remove or update a negative review. Don't do it. You would be complicit in tricking your fellow customers.
Definitely had this happen a couple of times but with seller feedback. Not necessarily because the product sucked (bought some books for my mum) but because the seller was garbage.
In one circumstance, it was a difficult to find book (no new stock, out of print), so I purchased one that had the highest quality listing for used stock ("excellent condition," "like new" etc). When she got it, it was torn, slightly loose binding, but readable (no more than fair condition, IMO); so I left a review stating such, indicating that the condition description didn't match the item, and I wouldn't buy from that seller again.
The seller, of course, wasn't happy about that and demanded that I remove it. I suppose I could've filed a claim with Amazon if they pushed the issue, but they didn't. It certainly wouldn't have been worth the hassle.
For a lot of categories, you might end up with an adequate product and miss out on an amazing one.
I find reviews very quickly let me find the best product for my needs in that category.
Also, returns are costly. For each one, I have to:
1. Assess the product
2. Go to the amazon order page. Click return.
3. Print the return form
4. Repackage the item. Tape the return form to it.
5. Go to the post office, wait in line, send it.
6. Order a new item, open it, and test it.
5-10 minutes of review reading can save all of that effort.
It's also less wasteful for the economy: needlessly upping your return volume causes negative externalities for everyone else.