Return Initiation Best Practices (and What to Avoid)

Introduction 

The growth rate of online shopping continues to surpass in-store shopping. In fact, in 2024, U.S. online spending on Black Friday alone rose by 10.2% year-over-year ($10.8B), while in-store sales experienced marginal growth of 0.7%. (Reuters). 

This growth has made providing a “seamless shopping experience” a retail mantra. Additionally, the return rate rose to 17% of all retail sales in 2024 ($890B total value) making it critical for retailers to extend this mantra to the returns experience (NRF). 

The First Touchpoint of Returns

The first touchpoint in the returns lifecycle (and therefore one of the most important to get right) is the ‘return initiation’ phase – the bridge between outbound and reverse journeys. The return initiation phase spans the moment a shopper decides to make a return, through the moment they receive a confirmation from the retailer that they can drop off their return. 

For many, introducing a returns portal has been key to improving this touchpoint. Returns portals are self-service experiences for shoppers to return online that reduce customer service cost/labor, increase customer satisfaction, and collect data insights that inform improvements to sales and merchandising. 

But having a returns portal is just one part of the equation. There are also strategic best practices to operationalize your portal so that your shoppers can complete their return with ease and your business can maximize the data insights captured about returns. 

In this article, we outline: 

Return Initiation Research & Audit

Shopper Research & Observations

For our latest user study, Optoro’s Design team recruited shoppers who had recently purchased apparel online. Our goal was to observe their behaviors and evaluate how they would start a return for those items. We hypothesized that shoppers would first visit the Return Policy page to start an online return. However, the data showed that shoppers initiate their return most often from a transactional email (e.g. Order Confirmation, Shipping Notification, etc), followed by their account profile on the retailer’s website.

While important, the Return Policy page is primarily referenced when shoppers are making a purchase decision. Once they decide to return, they are already armed with policy information so their focus shifts to initiating the return. Because shoppers can take different paths to start their return, optimizing each path will improve their productivity and increase the traffic going through your portal, ultimately providing your business with more data.

Retailer Audit

To further understand how retailers handle the ‘return initiation’ phase, we audited 15+ major brands’ returns experiences. Our findings include common friction points and best practices for creating a seamless start to the return journey.

❌ Core info is hidden by “click here” links

A progressive disclosure is a design principle that involves revealing information or options as needed rather than overwhelming the user with everything upfront. This is a best practice, but users should not have to take extra clicks or leave the page to get the information they need to make a purchase decision behind a “click here” link. If the experience requires the user to leave the page, they may feel frustrated having to hunt for it or ignore that path entirely and subsequently miss out on critical information.

Best Practice

Include the core details of your return policy on the Product Detail Page with a link to learn more about your policy. Most shoppers are trying to figure out what your return window is and if you charge a return fee. Additionally, use specific language to indicate where the link takes a shopper versus a vague call to action like, “click here” which requires users to read the context around the link. (i.e. Hyperlink “View our return policy”)

❌ Content is difficult to scan

Return Policy pages are notorious for being “walls of text” without any hierarchy or design elements to help users easily find what they are looking for. In a study conducted by Nielsen Norman Group, 79% of participants scanned any new page they came across; only 16 percent read word-by-word (N/N Group). When web pages lack clear headings, bullet points, or other visual cues, they become difficult to scan and frustrate your shoppers.

Best Practice

Use headings with simple language and bullet points to communicate the details of your policy. Focus on one idea per paragraph to increase comprehension of your policy. One way to gauge the “ease” of reading your policy is to look at the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease rating and aim to score a 60 or higher. If condensing information is challenging, consider using an AI tool (i.e. Gemini chat GPT) to help you simplify the text and reduce word count.

❌ It’s difficult to find the order number (or other necessary info to start a return)

“It’s always buried in my inbox.” 

Shoppers often struggle to locate their order number when starting a return because it is buried and/or the text is too small to find in their emails or account profile/purchase history. This forces them to sift through multiple emails trying to find the right data. This is especially cumbersome in cases for a repeat shopper when they have multiple purchases from the same retailer and have to check each order to find the item they want to return.

Best Practice

Use clear subject lines for transaction emails so shoppers can find order information easily. Include links to relevant web pages within transaction emails to help them self-service.

✅ Market the positive aspects and benefits of your returns experience

Shoppers usually want returns to be easy, fast, and to have at least one free option. Therefore, don’t only focus on operational requirements, return windows, and fees. Be sure to highlight how you are making their lives easier like instant exchanges, doorstep pick-ups, no box/no label, etc. Happy shoppers become repeat shoppers, and studies show that the most frequent returners are often your most profitable customers.

✅ Include clear and prominent calls-to-action

Some retailers may hide a return call-to-action to intentionally dissuade returns. And while this may work in the short term, it ultimately can impact future sales if shoppers deem returns too complex. Use clear, prominent calls-to-action in your emails, policy page, and account profiles so shoppers feel supported by your brand and can quickly complete their task.

✅ Leverage QR Codes in Package Inserts

Typically, package inserts with return information are densely packed with small print. Consider simplifying this by introducing a QR code that shoppers can scan to get started on their return easily.