Many problems can arise from the moment that a dropship order is placed to the moment that order arrives at its destination. In addition to common issues with the shipment, merchants sometimes need to deal with hassles related to dropship goods.
Today, we will work on 3 common issues related to dropship goods to help merchants know what to do.
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1. Problem 1: Stock-outs
Stock-out may be the most popular problems. It frequently happens with winning products, which are sold by many merchants at the same time. Besides, it often occurs in holiday seasons, when the demand surpasses the supply.
If any item happens to be out of stock, merchants should set the out-of-stock status for it in their store. If the merchants know when that item gets restocked, they should mention it on the product page. It allows customers to pre-order and expect to wait longer than normal for it to arrive. But if not, the merchants should clarify that information on its product page.
What if merchants fail to set out-of-stock status before customers order that item?
The merchants should expect that customers will get mad at them. He may bombard the merchants by complaining emails and negative reviews. To avoid it, the merchants should actively send an apology to the customers via email or SMS, and sometimes attach that email with a discount code. Besides, the merchants should give them some recommendations for alternative items.
2. Problem 2: Wrong product delivered
Each wholesaler has to process hundreds of dropship orders each day. Understandably, wholesalers mistake one dropship order for another, and they end up delivering a product that is not what the receiver ordered. Although it is their fault, merchants need to worry because it directly affects the customer experience.
To not get caught in such a situation, merchants need to carefully work on the return and refund policies of their wholesalers before heading to the partnership. The policy should state an article that if wholesalers deliver a wrong item, they have to get it back, then ship the right one and be in charge of that re-shipping cost. Besides, if the wholesalers cannot ship the right item to the customers, the merchants get a full refund. That refund is used to compensate the customers.
In addition to compensation (or refund), the merchants should send the customers an apology email and give them a discount.
3. Problem 3: Damaged product delivered
Similar to the wrong-product-delivered case, merchants should work through return and refund policies carefully. Besides, they should pay attention to warranty terms and conditions. It will be the best if wholesalers agree to re-send an intact item to customers and pay that re-shipping cost.
For customers, they will be very disappointed if their package is not in good condition. So, merchants should try to satisfy them by apologizing and giving a discount.
