Customer support and returns for international sales

AlphaDiscounters has set high standards for itself and sellers when it comes to customer focus. A great shopping experience for customers includes finding and ordering products with ease, getting fast and free shipping, and providing excellent customer support on orders and returns.

In this section we will cover customer support and customer returns. As presented in previous sections, you have two options to fulfill your international orders: you can do it on your own or you can use by AlphaDiscounters. Your fulfillment method will determine how you provide customer support and handle returns. Let’s look at how you can provide excellent customer support based on the fulfillment options you use.

Customer Support for International Sales

When you sell in an AlphaDiscounters marketplace, you are required to provide customer support in the local language of the marketplace. For instance, if you are selling on Alphadiscounters.pl or Alphadiscounters.tr, you are required to provide customer support in Polish or Turkish respectively. You can choose to do it on your own or you can have AlphaDiscounters do it when your international sales.

Fulfilling orders on your own

Local language customer support

When you choose to fulfill customer orders yourself, it’s not just the picking, packing, and shipping to customers that you’ll need to handle; AlphaDiscounters also requires that you handle customer support. This can be challenging if you are selling in an AlphaDiscounters marketplace where you don’t know the language.

You may be tempted to use automated computer translators to respond to email inquiries from international customers. However, a risk to this approach is that machine translation may lead to less-than-optimal translations, which in turn could lead to a poor customer experience, ultimately affecting your seller performance ratings. A better option, if you do not have in-house customer service capabilities in the local language, is to use third-party service providers to handle your customer support.

Timely responses

Customers expect prompt, helpful service when they have questions or concerns about your products. To maintain a healthy seller scorecard, you should have customer service specialists who understand your products, that know where the customer’s product is and when it will be delivered, and who will be able to respond quickly (within 24 hours) to customer e-mail contacts in the local language. This may be challenging when selling in marketplaces that are in different time zones from your place of business, as the time differences will shorten the time frame in which you can respond to customers during your regular business hours.

There are many online resources that can help sellers with customer support.

Fulfilling orders through marketplace AlphaDiscounters

When you use marketplace AlphaDiscounters will provide 24-hour customer support on your behalf in the local language of the relevant marketplace. For many sellers, this feature of is critical to selling on international marketplaces successfully. With local language customer support, you can provide your customers with AlphaDiscounters world-class customer service, and you can focus on growing and managing your business.

Customer returns for international sales

When processing an international return for orders that you ship to customers in the European Union, you must use one of the following return methods depending on your default return address:

For international sellers with a default European Union return address

• AlphaDiscounters prepaid returns service: If you have a default European Union return address, you must use AlphaDiscounters prepaid returns service. For items returned using prepaid returns service, you are required to issue refunds within two business days of receiving the returned item. Also, for items that are exempt from AlphaDiscounters prepaid returns, you will have the option to provide your own prepaid return shipping label to European Union customers.
• Returnless refund: Offer a full refund without requesting the item to be returned.

For international sellers without a default European Union return address

• Automated returnless refund: If you are fulfilling customer orders in the European Union from outside the European Union and a default European Union return address is not provided, AlphaDiscounters will automatically issue the customer a returnless refund for eligible returns equal to or under 25 Euros without requiring the item to be returned.
• Returnless refund: For return items above 25 Euro you may offer a full refund without requesting the item to be returned.
• Provide prepaid international return shipping: Provide your own prepaid return mailing label for a return request from the stores in which you are selling. For example, if you are selling on Alphadiscounters.com and shipping from China, you will provide the customer with a return label from the European Union to your location in China. We recommend that prepaid return shipping labels include tracking.
• Enroll with a service provider: Our international returns provider enrolled in the Returns Provider program or a provider on the Solution Provider Network can help if you do not have a local return address. Using the European Union domestic return address established as part of your use of a service provider, you will automatically be enrolled into the AlphaDiscounters Prepaid Return Label program.
• Automated Refunds: If you do not offer any of the above return methods within five days of a return request, AlphaDiscounters may refund the customer on your behalf and charge the amount to your seller account.

Important: For international returns, the cost of return shipping is always the seller’s responsibility, even for faulty returns. If you offer a domestic return option, you are not required to refund the cost of the original shipping for faulty returns. For faulty returns, you must also refund the cost of original shipping.

Return methods:

Returnless Refund

Follow the steps below to offer a full refund without requesting that the item be returned.

1. From the Orders drop-down menu, click Manage returns.
2. Select the return you would like to refund, and then click Issue refund.
3. Select Customer return as the reason for the refund, and process a full refund.
4. Close the returns request by selecting Issued refund without return as the reason for closing the request and provide comments to the customer.

Important: If you are issuing a refund without return, you must refund the exact amount paid for the item. Negotiating a partial refund is not an alternative to a return.

You can automate returnless resolutions for orders shipped to customers in European Union based on item price, category, and return reason. For more information on setting this up, go to Returnless resolutions.

Provide a domestic return option

Follow these steps to provide a local return address:

1. From the Settings drop-down menu, click Account Info.
2. Select an existing local address as your default domestic return address or enter a new default return address.

Note: This must be a valid address that you are authorized to use.

3. Click Submit.

Important: If you do not have a local return address, an international returns provider enrolled in the Returns Provider program or a provider on the Solution Provider Network can help.

Provide prepaid international return shipping

Follow these steps to provide a pre-paid return mailing label for a return request.

1. On the Orders drop-down menu, click Manage returns.
2. Click Authorize request for the return request you would like to approve.
3. Under Your return mailing label section, select I will provide a pre-paid mailing label for this request.
4. Upload a shipping label, select the carrier used, and enter the Tracking ID if you have it.
5. Set the return label cost to 0.00 to ensure that the customer is not charged for return shipping.

If we determine that you did not follow these requirements, we shall proactively issue a refund to affected customers, allowing them to keep or discard the item.

As you consider how your customers will return items that they purchase from you, note the following options:

Customs

For international returns, you are responsible for complying with all the import and export obligations, and for payment of all applicable duties and customs fees.

Offering partial refunds:

In certain situations, it may be appropriate to offer a partial refund on the returned product. Full refunds should be given for returns, cancellations, and out-of-stock items. Partial refunds should only be performed as a goodwill gesture or for compensation or dispute resolution issues and are made at the discretion of the seller. For example, the item arrived slightly damaged or there were minor discrepancies in the product description. If you decide to issue a partial refund, we recommend agreeing on this with the buyer in advance to help avoid misunderstanding or a possible Guarantee claim.

Engaging a third-party international returns provider:

We have created a list of return providers who can accept returns in your customers’ countries. Depending on your sales volume and unit price, international return providers may offer solutions that reduce the costs you incur when customers in other counties return your products. For example, some providers will consolidate returns and ship them back to you or ship them to another customer.