Boutique e-commerce cut returns to a minimum with pre-delivery confirmation calls

Starting point

For boutique businesses, the most expensive problem is returns. Wrong size, incomplete address, a buyer who can't be reached at delivery: each one means the product comes back, gets shipped again and the customer keeps waiting. At boutique scale this hits cost and customer experience directly; and errors of this kind are the sort a single phone call before delivery could catch.

The boutique e-commerce business in this case started managing the most fragile step of its shipping process, the moment before delivery, with AvaritCall's voice assistant. The goal was clear: talk to the buyer before delivery and catch errors before they turn into returns.

What the assistant does

For every order, the assistant calls the buyer before delivery. The call is short and single-purpose: to confirm, in the buyer's own words, the two details on the order that lead to returns — the address and the size. The assistant asks its question, takes the answer and ends the call.

• Calls before delivery: reaches the buyer before the courier sets off.
• Verifies the address: checks the address on file together with the buyer; the aim is for an incomplete or incorrect address to be settled before delivery.
• Confirms the size: asks the buyer to confirm the size ordered; a wrong size can be spotted before the product goes out for delivery.

Call transcripts are logged in the panel and can be followed via push notifications in the iOS app; calendar and CRM integrations are connected per setup.

Outcome

Every order that gets a conversation is less likely to come back. Because address and size are settled before delivery, the aim is to resolve the errors that lead to returns before the product comes back; the goal is that when the courier sets off, a buyer is waiting at the right address for the right size. The business brought its return rate down to a minimum.

• Wrong size: spotted in a conversation with the buyer before delivery; the product is less likely to come back.
• Incomplete address: completed together with the buyer before delivery.
• Unreachable buyer: the confirmation call aims to reach the buyer before the courier is at the door.

As returns fall, the work that comes with them — re-shipping, refunds and post-order back-and-forth — is expected to ease as well.

What people still do

The assistant takes on pre-delivery confirmation; the post-order relationship, the exceptions and anything that needs a decision stay with the team. The assistant's job is confirmation; the decision stays with people.

• The final call on orders the assistant couldn't reach or whose address never got settled, and communication with the shipping carrier.
• Return and exchange requests, along with the refunds that go with them.
• Keeping the size chart, stock and product information accurate; the assistant only works with the order data it is given.

As in every case, pricing negotiations and complaint handling stay with the team.