When Returning Products Demonstrates Confidence

Cyber Monday is coming back.  Only this time, it’s a Thursday.

Maybe you burnt a bridge with someone who you purchased a gift for, maybe whatever you ordered no longer fits because in addition to layering your clothes for cold weather, you’ve also been layering your meals with a block of cheddar cheese…or maybe you just flat out purchased in haste and made a mistake.  Whatever the reason, ‘Boomerang Thursday’ is in recognition of your mistakes.

Yesterday Bizreport.com announced that one in 20 people who purchased gifts on or around Cyber Monday expect to return at least one of their purchases prior to the Christmas holiday.  This coming Thursday, December 9th, is typically the kickoff day for those returns.  Hence the apropos ‘Boomerang Thursday.’

The high number of returns is no cause for alarm though, it actually demonstrates increased consumer confidence in online retailers’ ability to have consumers’ replacement items in stock and ready to be delivered prior to Christmas.  But just like Ebenezer Scrooge, your holiday mistakes could come back to bite you.  With wintry weather and the holiday season comes increased delivery time expectations as well as a high volume of consumers who may have made the same kinds of ordering mistakes you did (minus the gluttonous layering of cheese).

That being said, if you think that you may end up having to return a product that you ordered recently, it’s best to look for a retailer that has an easy to understand and clearly outlined returns policy.  It may also be best to look for one with free return shipping and affordable, speedy delivery rates.  If you’re on the lookout for retailers with excellent shipping and delivery policies and practices just in time for the holidays, look no further than our Holiday Guide.  These retailer’s policies will leave you so pleased that you’ll be returning from whence you came, just like…a planet in orbit?  a dog playing fetch?  a sailor returning to port?  Either way, you get the idea.

The E-Commerce Tripod: Explained Via Videogames

Leaving college is a difficult endeavor for anyone.  Leaving college is even more of a challenge when you discover that being gainfully employed and having a healthy social life means your regimen of four-hour video game ‘practice’ sessions have to take a backseat to more developmentally healthy activities.

To soften the brutality of having this beloved activity taken from me, I decided recently to purchase the newest installment of Capcom’s nearly decades long ‘Street Fighter’ series in an attempt to pathetically try to re-create a favorite pastime of my not so recent collegiate experience.  Like most e-consumers, I made sure to visit a handful of sites that sell the game to see if there were any major differences in price.  After some basic research, what became clear was that there were dozens of sites selling the exact same game for a price that was nearly identical (between $30 and 35$) without shipping.

At this point, two things were clearly visible throughout the online shopping process; there were several sites offering the same products and those same products all had nearly identical prices.  What wasn’t clear to me from any of those same sites was how those same companies planned on treating me through all phases of my purchase.  Of all the retailers, which would give me the best information to make an informed decision on purchasing the right game?  Which website had the most inexpensive shipping rates?  Which vendor would be willing to take my call and help me get my game running if I was experiencing problems with the disc at 3am Saturday morning, numb and tired from hours of play and extreme Nacho Cheese Dorito ingestion (hypothetically)?  Which site would let me return the game if I decided I didn’t like it a month later?

All of these questions are just as reasonable as ‘How much does the game cost?’ and ‘What other game titles are available for this particular platform?’  Both questions are paramount when deciding what product to purchase; one regards price, the other, selection.  That leaves the e-retailer’s customer service offering, the equally important third and more nebulous leg of our e-retail tripod.

Fortunately for consumers, STELLAService brings clarity to that third large, differentiating component of online retailers.  It is our belief that as price and selection for mass produced products continue to converge, e-retailers need to differentiate themselves by way of their customer service offering.  By providing data driven, rather than anecdotal, insight into how particular e-retailers differ in their abilities to best serve their customers, STELLAService is not only providing a service to online consumers, but also to those companies that make customer service a priority (by broadcasting their commitment through display of the STELLAService Seal).

Whether you’re looking to alienate yourself from your friends and family by hunkering down for 90 cumulative hours of Final Fantasy XIV, or if you just want to find a pair of running shoes, be sure to keep an eye out for the STELLAService seal on any site that sells goods online.  You may be out of college, but it’s not too late to educate yourself on where the best place is to make a purchase online.