Manish ChowdharyFounder & CEO pioneering AI-driven ecommerce logistics

Should You Fight Every Suspicious Ecommerce Return?

17 Sept 2026 · 2 min

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1:37

In this short dialogue, two speakers discuss the prevalence of shoppers abusing ecommerce return policies—about 45% admit bending the rules—to the detriment of brands. They explore how brands should respond, emphasizing the importance of an informed, empathetic customer service team that listens to the reasons behind returns. The conversation highlights the need to assess each case for potential relationship salvage, considering cross‑selling opportunities and long‑term customer value rather than automatically fighting every suspicious return. The overarching advice is to preserve the customer relationship while balancing acquisition and marketing costs.

Chapters

You know, how do you deal with a customer, you know, when you bend the rules? You know, shoppers, by the way, 50%, 45% of shoppers find that it's perfectly fair, those are their words, to bend the return policy to get what they want. So you are obviously aware that shoppers, that many of them, 45% of them, are trying to trick the brand. So how do you What advice do you have for the brands out there? So how do you use these returns as a vehicle, keeping customer acquisition costs, your cost of marketing, and all of that? How do you take all that into account?
Yeah, I think first and foremost, having a really, a really informed customer service team is everything. If your first touchpoint with the brand or a person from the brand is positive and they're listening and they want feedback on what the impetus for the return actually is, then I feel like I've found that that will actually soften their initial approach. But ultimately, you know, you do have to put yourself in the position of, is this— is there a chance to salvage this relationship? What other products could we potentially, you know, sell to them either now or in the future? And I think all really paramount is just preserving the relationship. So will people try to take advantage of the return policy, whatever it is? Of course they will.