In a recent New York Times article on e-commerce, the bane of merchants was the main subject of the article.
And what was that?
Returns.
It is a growing problem, as it has been for a long time.
But what is causing it?
Most importantly, what can you do about it?
It all comes down to ever rising consumer expectations while the types of products people can buy online continues to expand. While many of us would never buy an article of clothing we had not tried on, for many others, who have more or less standard size ‘everythings’, they will gladly buy it. Have you checked out how many shoe brands are available on Amazon? If they weren’t selling, you wouldn’t see them there. You do and they are.
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Why do companies offer warranties and what can you do to leverage your guarantee and the entitlements it grants to your customers? Here’s 11 ways you can try out now (Assuming you have a robust warranty management solution, such as SAP ACS Warranty Management coupled with a great value proposition):
- Extend the Time Frame of Your Warranty
If you have not had a warranty claim in a much longer period of time than your warranty, then why not ‘stretch’ your guarantee out. This can be perceived as an innovative customer value proposition which can be enabled by the SAP Value Proposition of end-to-end product visibility.
How to sell a warranty with a product protection plan
Enhance your warranty by offering a product warranties with an additional protection plan offering. This is how to sell warranties that are positively perceived and ultimately, improve your warranty valuation. Car warranties that also cover add-ons, such as trailer hitches, are an excellent example of typical product protection plans. - Make it Simpler for a Consumer to Make a Claim.
This may sound like crazy talk, but consumers know that to make it simple, takes considerable effort on the vendors part. Make this part of your product value proposition. Make your warranty terms absolutely clear and your customers will perceive that you stand behind the quality of your product. The connection between your product's quality and increased sales is clear. - Use Your Warranty to Reverse the Risk to the Consumer.
This is a proven practice within the consumer space. - Use the Warranty Registration Expiration Data to Create Special Offers.
If you get a consumer to register their product, you now have data you can use to create time driven offers. It makes for a very effective effective value proposition in the eyes of your customer. - Use Failure Data to Improve Your Product or Service Offering.
Failures provide a valuable source of information for your design team. Use this invaluable information to continuously improve how your product functions. It's also a great way to identify manufacturing defects and eliminate them. - Simplify Your Warranty Claims Process End-to-End.
Though it may appear to be good business to make it hard for a client to make a claim, you are only deluding yourself. Use your claims management system to initiate and keep open channels of communication with your clients. Ensure your warranty claim process is always a good value proposition for your customers. - Recycle Serviceable Parts.
Many times, the wrong part is bought due to poor data, which can happen anywhere along your supply chain. When good parts are returned, they can be resold. But you also get a chance to provide the right part to the original customer. This is a great value proposition for recycling, but from a different perspective. - Use Warranty Data to Make Product Updates.
A high rate of returns in the e-commerce space can indicate much more than a product deficiency. It is also an indicator of product/market fit. Perhaps your marketing message is targeting the wrong audience? Or perhaps your product requires a different sales approach to find exactly what a consumer needs.
Some shoe vendors are now providing 3D maps of the insides of their shoe, that when coupled with an associated online app of a consumers foot, provides a ‘perfect fit’. Let a unique warranty be a part of your unique value proposition. - Penetrate New Markets with Better Warranties than Your Competitors.
The automotive industry went through this in the 70 and 80s. Can you establish a new benchmark with a leading edge warranty program? Many automotive product consultants extended warranty strategies have helped automotive OEMs secure the lasting loyalty of their customers. - Integrate Data at the Source (IoT) for Better Warranty Claims Results.
The Dubai city bus service now runs busses equipped with sensors that feed data continuously back to the manufacturer to anticipate failures. This directly leads to higher equipment availability and lower cost.
This is what is a unique service offer, at least in the eyes of the city bus authority and probably went a long way towards making positive purchase decision when it came time to select a bus vendor. - Go Beyond Simple Product Failures to Performance Guarantees.
For many products, the warranty is pretty simple, it will perform as advertised. But for many products, the outcome of the performance also needs to be guaranteed. If a solar panel is working, and was supposed to work at X efficiency, but its in-the-field efficiency is actually only Y, it is a failure.
There are numerous examples of these types of failures. Leading manufacturers know the winning formula is to make sure it is delivering as promised.
As you can see from this short list, a warranty is a key aspect of a successful product or service. Designing, implementing and managing a robust warranty management solution, based on SAP Warranty Management, is one way leading vendors are winning in today's market.
If you’re not getting maximum value from your current approach to warranty management, it’s time to give us a call. As experts in the warranty management system market, we go beyond ‘Guaranteed’. We offer an initial FREE one hour consultation to discuss your SAP Warranty Management requirements.
