HOW EASY CAN YOU RETURN IT?
Many New Product Developers Overlook the Product Return Aspect of an Item. Don't Let That Happen to You.
PART ONE
No matter what type of product you are selling, you're bound to have some customer or end-user return one to you, or worse yet, to the store of purchase. Winning products are those that can be put right back on the shelf in the same package after having been opened and inspected by a previous purchaser or prospective buyer.
Customers return products for all sorts of different reasons.
* The product was defective from the factory* The product was missing something
* The product was the wrong color
* The package was mis-marked
* The product failed to perform as advertised
* The product didn't fit its intended location
* The product was the wrong size for the end-user
* The product BROKE immediately or soon thereafter
* The customer got "Buyers Remorse"
* The customer didn't like it
* The customer's SPOUSE didn't like it
* The customer received it as a gift and already had one
The worst possible situation is to have a heavy product, which has a small profit margin, in an expensive display package. When someone returns such a product, it is likely that the cost of shipping this product back and forth will eat up all profits on a per unit basis. Not only that, but you can be faced with replacing the package also.
On some products, the packaging is a major part of the cost of goods sold. In this case, your worst enemy can be the "Looky-Lou," otherwise known as the "Picky Package Mangler." Take it form me, I am one! I will always open a box or package to check out a product before I buy it. If upon opening, I find that the product is free of blemishes and appears to be of good quality, I will purchase that particular product. However, if I like the product overall but feel that the one I've opened is blemished, I will open every box until I find a good one, even if it means leaving behind several "dead bodies" of display boxes which are unusable.
I am not alone. I have had many of my own and my client's products returned because of being ravaged by Picky Package Manglers. I have also had products returned due to several of the other reason I listed above.
The bottom line is--if you ship products out, you will definitely have a certain percentage of "boomerangs" which will come back to you. At many companies, the average number is 1/2 of 1% and sometimes a little higher.
The trick is to make your packaging:
* REVEALING* EASY TO OPEN
* EASY TO RE-CLOSE
* DURABLE
If your packaging is revealing, where prospective buyers can see the product, touch and feel it, chances are better that they won't try to take it out of the package. If your package is not revealing but is easy to open and re-close without ruining the box, chances are the product can be left on the shelf after someone like me has looked at it. If your package is durable, chances are it will withstand several "Looky-Lous" like me, and the chances are better that it will be sold before it is "inspected to death."
NEXT ISSUE: More on Product Returns
The above article was taken from James F. Riordan's classic book, HOW TO EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL FOR SUCCESS OF A NEW PRODUCT OR TECHNOLOGY. Riordan's highly-acclaimed, 36-point system is a valuable tool for inventors, product evaluators or anyone interested in the invention process. Each section is followed by a comprehensive questionnaire that can be used to evaluate your product.
The highly-recommended book can be ordered through the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501. The phone number is (310) 328-1925.
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