News Review Philippines

 CONSUMER RIGHTS REGARDING RETURNS MUST BE SIMPLIFIED 

When buyers don’t get what they want, what is the best recourse of action?

 

 

An example of online shopping dissatisfaction is when product quality does not meet consumer expectations. The photo shows supposedly a mini-table when assembled, but can't make its way through fulfillment, because of its unsteady structure and mini-parts; hence the need to outsource a service provider to fix the item bought online.

 

EVER SINCE THE THRIVE OF E-COMMERCE, a good number of consumers probably would have thought that shopping is made easy, since now, one does not have to go outside, take a chance on the weather, make it through the snail traffic just to buy an item or load up on a grocery haul.

Admittingly, the goals of door-to-door delivery for e-commerce platforms are actually a sweet concoction of idealism and best-effort help on the economy-- to treat customers like royalty while earning profits on the side.  At least these are what can be assumed via the positioning of most e-commerce sites around the time of the pandemic.

 

But it is never without falter, remiss, or misgivings. And the fault sometimes is not in the app but in the very sellers or merchants of prestigious local shopping sites, which this writer actually has come to learn about.  

 

THE ROOT OF THE PROBLEM

The faults in the falter, just to clarify, and be concrete about local shopping experiences, are in seizing up on the actual items received by a customer, and the way returns are handled by a merchant.

Below are the weaknesses of e-commerce shopping sites that can be attributed to their massive contact points to reach the customer and the bias of sellers in ensuring customer satisfaction when it comes to product returns and quality.

 

THE PRODUCT POSTS  DO NOT MATCH CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS. 

      Product posts from the point of view of a shopper must not only be picture-perfect but detail-oriented as possible.   But while shopping is supposed to be for the need or enjoyment of customers, some sellers, unfortunately, post products that they cannot deliver.

 

Hence sharing an example, of online shopping circumstances:  

>>>>  A shaded, tent tarpaulin order, which did not arrive, and what came instead was a t-shirt.

 

>>>> In another instance,  a shirt also came that did not fall within my order-scope, but was delivered nevertheless.

 

>>>> In another example, was an order of a mini-rice cooker but what came actually was a vague plastic part that looked like a a gadget stand.

 

>>>> Also to share another online retail experience, is when a table has been ordered from a local shopping site, supposedly a second-hand unused item that instantly crumbled once assembled, hence the need for further repair to make the ordered item functional.

 

THE KEY TO REDUCING THE NUMBER OF RETURNS  IS TO MAKE SURE THE ITEMS POSTED ARE REALLY DELIVERABLE.

 

ANOTHER WEAKNESS OF ONLINE SHOPPING IS WHEN AESTHETIC SHOTS ARE FAVORED BY THE SELLER. 

STYLIZED SHOTS MUST BE USED WITH CAUTION AND THE SELLER MUST HAVE PROPER AWARENESS OF PRODUCT DISTORTION OR WHEN CREATING MISMATCHED EXPECTATIONS AMONG CUSTOMERS.

   

Sellers must be aware that product photos of items being sold must not be heavily filtered, or edited and must give customers an actual idea or estimation of what the product looks like, without stirring confusion on the size, color, weight, or even specs of the product order.

 

The mismatched expectations could confuse customers when relevant details are not displayed or shown in the product description.

One shopper can thus expect that an item is a big-sized product, and can actually arrive looking like a miniature item. Or truth lit, it can be the other way around when an item delivered is bigger than what the customer expected.

 

Thus aesthetic shots must not thinout out the ACTUAL PRODUCT that the customer would be getting once ordered.

 

Many other details can be spoken of that can actually water down customer expectations of a product buy, but the important thing is how complaints are handled by the seller or by the go-between of the e-commerce app.

 

In one instance, a resolve to reach out to a designated authority or send a missive to DTI would not actually assure of a definite action; but seems more like a receiving table for complaints of customers without a promise of resolving consumer complaints against businesses or companies. 

THIS VAGUENESS IN HANDLING CONSUMER COMPLAINTS COULD SUPPRESS E-COMMERCE BRANDS' DEFINITIVE STANDARDS IN HANDLING CUSTOMER RELATIONS.

 

WHETHER THESE ARE ABOUT SIMPLE COMPLAINTS OR ABOUT ATTITUDINAL GRIEVANCES OF SELLERS; OR WHETHER QUESTIONS ARE RAISED ON PRODUCT QUALITY OR MISHANDLING OF ORDERS, AN ACTION FAVORABLE TO BOTH PARTIES MUST BE REACHED.

 

AS IT IS, A REVIEW OF PRODUCTS OR BUYERS' SATISFACTION, SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY RECOURSE OF CUSTOMERS TO SETTLE THEIR WOES WITHOUT ACTUAL RESOLVE; OR A REFUND IS GIVEN WHEN OBLIGED BY THE SELLER.

 

BUT GOOD CUSTOMER RELATIONS ACTUALLY GO BEYOND NUMBERS, PRICES, AND DELIVERY ACCURACIES. 

SELLERS MUST HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TO EMBARK ON AN E-COMMERCE PLATFORM WHERE ALL KINDS OF CUSTOMERS WOULD BE MET, AND WITH ALL KINDS OF EXPECTATIONS TO FULFILL AND BOTHER WITH.

News Review Ph >>> business commentary

posted by Anna Liza VB Sept 05, 2023

revised 12:24nn