Did you know that 57% of consumers will switch to another brand because it offers a better customer experience?
And when it comes to customer experience, there is one aspect that is crucial – especially for e-commerce retailers: refunds.
This is even more important for international retailers. Selling abroad is a great way of reaching a wider audience, and it’s also a win for customers if they are trying to source a product that is not available locally.
In fact, two-thirds of UK shoppers say they are regularly purchasing products from international ecommerce stores, with about half of them saying they got bored of checking Amazon.
This doesn’t mean that it’s all a smooth experience: 72% are afraid of damaged or delayed deliveries and 68% are concerned that there will be issues with customs.
And sometimes these fears do come true.
Say they came to your website to buy an exclusive brand of trainers that only you stock. Unfortunately, the price goes up as the customer has to pay the import VAT and duties on purchases above £135. They might even have been caught off guard with this if they’ve bought with you prior to Brexit, but they don’t mind because it’s a pair they really want. Unfortunately, when they receive the item, they realise they made a mistake and ordered the wrong size and here’s where your positive customer experience might break.
Your returns process might be simple and straightforward, but your customer might not know that they can get their customs duty refunded when they return the product.
Or they might be aware of their refund rights but the process of claiming their refund back from HMRC is simply too complicated. HMRC won’t even notify them if their claim fails. Nobody likes doing taxes.
So if they do return the product back to you, they could be out of pocket and decide it’s too much hassle and cost to shop with you again. Or they keep the item to try and resell elsewhere but again, they decide not to shop with you.
They might also tell their friends about their bad experience. And it doesn’t take much effort to spread the word – many UK customers are already put off from buying from overseas retailers because of customs charges. While earlier we said that 68% of UK shoppers are concerned about customs issues, for 49% this is the main issue they’re concerned about – according to a 2021 Sendcloud E-Commerce Delivery Compass study.
This is a shame because some brands are definitely doing some things right – another study found that over a third (34%) of British customers regularly buy from abroad, with 15% making an online purchase from an overseas store at least once a week.
Why miss out on this growing market?
As the customs refund process is the responsibility of the customer, you might think there’s nothing you can do. But actually, there is.
At Duty Refunds we partner with retailers to help their customers get their customs duty back. By partnering with us you can integrate UK customs refunds into your existing returns process and let us take care of the hassle for your customer. There’s zero integration cost and we can be up and running in 10 working days. We also pay you a monthly commission for successful claims.
If you want to find out more about being a retail partner, get in touch with our partnerships team on [email protected]
About Duty Refunds:
At Duty Refunds, we believe selling internationally should be just as easy as selling locally. Duties can be reclaimed through our easy-to-use app instead of being lost to the government. As the first and only online import duty and VAT refund platform for UK shoppers, we’ve already helped customers refund half a million pounds worth of purchases.
We’re rated a 4.8 (excellent) on Trustpilot, and we’re integrated with courier companies (eg: DHL, DPD, Fedex and Parcel force) and HMRC, making the whole process seamless.
Partnering with us lets you focus on sales while we take care of customers’ inquiries and complaints regarding import charges. If you need any help on duty & tax refund for your international orders, please email us at [email protected] to set up a call or visit our retailer page.
What you get by partnering with us:
- Boost your average order value in the UK market by increasing trust with UK consumers – they’ll know they can get a full refund, no matter what
- Increase your customer lifetime value through a higher-than-expected level of customer service and a smooth, no-headache, easy returns process
- Reduce the time your team needs to spend on customer service
- Gain an entirely new revenue stream through our shared commission scheme
