Returns management in e-commerce when shipping from Switzerland

Swiss Post can help

“Send back my ordered goods free of charge if I don’t want them? That goes without saying!”. Does that sound like one of your online customers? But things aren’t quite that simple. Because return of consignments from abroad pose various challenges:

First of all, there is the disadvantage for Switzerland as a location for returns management for online shopping. Compared to foreign retailer, customs clearance conditions are completely different for you. This results in unfair competitive conditions. Returning individual consignments to Switzerland is usually associated with high costs. In addition, customers now expect free returns. This is already standard within the EU – sometimes it is even required by law.

All these challenges mean that it is much more difficult for customers to return consignments to you than to foreign competitors. This can lead to complaints, or in the worst case even to the loss of the customer. To prevent this while also offering free returns, you have to live with lower revenues and tighter margins.

Of course, there are ways to meet these challenges and avert the negative consequences of return costs for retailers. In fact, Swiss Post offers customers in 22 different EU countries the option to submit their returns at acceptance points in those countries. All consignments that have to be returned to Switzerland are collected at those points, then picked and sent together. This saves a great deal in conveyance and customs clearance costs! Swiss Post operates a total of 17,000 acceptance points within the EU.

Would you like to discover your savings potential? Don't wait any longer:

Electronic returns label

To enable your customers to submit their consignments at one of our acceptance points, you must provide them with a returns label.

It’s very easy and you have three different options:

• Create an electronic return label and send as a link via e-mail.
• Create an electronic return label and send as a PDF via e-mail.
• Print out a physical return label and send it as a document.
  
  

Your customers can then submit their consignment at a GLS Parcel Shop. Important: The return shipment is free of charge for your customers!

Optimum overview of all returns

Improve your margins and revenues

Our returns service from EU countries makes your life easier and saves time while helping you to increase your margins and revenues. This is enabled primarily through checks and monitoring. Customers can’t simply return their products at will. You decide when a return is justified and issue a corresponding return label.

This enables you to limit and fully track your costs at all times. Of course, only actually posted returns will be billed for.

You can find all further information about our GLS Parcel Shops in a concise summary on our “Shop Return Service” factsheet.

Undeliverable items

What happens to undeliverable items? These are reported to Swiss Post GLS customer service, which informs the export customers. The decision on further processing is communicated to the country subsidiary where the parcel is located. The parcels are then:

• resubmitted
• returned 
• or destroyed

The advantages of our GLS Parcel Shops at a glance

• Attractive prices for conveyance and customs clearance thanks to collective conveyance in an outer box.
• Complete control over all returns.
• If required, you can ensure that you are always informed about undeliverable items.