How To Reduce RTO In E-Ecommerce In India? Proven Methods

Hello everyone, Today, we are here to talk about a problem that is prevalent only in India.

Problem so big, that 90% of e-commerce brands generally fail or quit in their first month.

The name of this problem is RTO.

An acronym for Return to Origin, or another name for fake orders.

Over the years, A significant amount of RTO has been seen in the indian e-com space, which became a massive roadblock for new business.

But, as we know,

“Every problem comes with a solution.”

I have been a digital marketer for the past 6 years, and over the years,

I have used several tricks to reduce RTO, which I will tell you about in the article ahead.

Why only in India?

As I told earlier,

The reason this problem seems to exist only in india,

In other countries, their government handles E-commerce Scams,

Hence, they have strong laws for the e-commerce space,

So things like fraudulent offers, cheating just don’t happen.

But when we talk about India,

There is little to no regulation, hence, people don’t easily trust e-commerce websites.

And even if they do,

They generally prefer Cash On Delivery.

Now,

👉 The problem with cash on delivery is that when the order is shipped to the customer,

There are high chances of them not accepting it,

👉 Or returning it after 5-6 days.

This causes the seller to bear shipping and return charges, resulting in them bearing loss for that product.

If this problem persists, RTO slowly puts them out of business.

None of us wants that to happen, so here are some life-saving tricks for you;

Handling RTO the right way

b. “Reverse Discount” on Prepaid orders.

Now, as a business owner,

We don’t only cover the cost of making the product, but we also cover the shipping, customer care and various other services.

👉 So giving a discount on top of that becomes tedious.

Instead of that, I want you to give “reverse discounts”.

For example, if your product is of 1299, on your checkout page,

👉 Display it for 1499.

And prepaid orders show that there is an extra 200/- discount on the product.

The customer would now be much persuaded to take the prepaid order to save their 200 rupees.

This will reduce your RTO by a huge extent,

The same way it did for boAt.

c. OTP for Cash on delivery

Suppose I go to a website, i order a product with Cash on delivery, then what else can a seller do?

One of the best options he has is to confirm my number and address.

That can be done by sending an OTP to my phone.

This step confirms the address and number of the customer at that moment,

So that when the delivery person reaches the customer, there is no big issue for them,

Hence, the RTO remains low and remains aloof from fake orders.

d. Use Partial COD

I am currently working with multiple small businesses,

In their starting phase, they can’t afford to take risks of fake orders and RTO,

So, to help them in that regard, they use partial COD.

Take this as an example;

👉 I go to a website, I want to purchase a product of 1299,

In this context, partial COD can be activated by charging 100 rupees upfront to confirm this order,

This will not only filter out fake orders but also reduce the chances of RTO by a big margin.

This still remains a type of COD, giving what the user wants, while also reducing the RTO, keeping the businesses profitable.

While countering RTO is necessary for your business profitability, another thing you can do to ensure that is to exponentially increase the sales of your e-commerce website.

And if you want to know more about that;

READ: HOW TO INCREASE SALES FOR MY ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

Expert Opinion

Bonus Solutions

Although the above solutions are effective on their own,

Implementing these solutions can further reduce RTO by a significant number.

Starting with the first one,

1. Have a user-friendly website

Self-explanatory; if the website is good enough, you instantly display your credibility.

The customer develops the trust factor faster

and is more willing to spend money with you.

2. Good Checkout page

Similar explanation,

A checkout page reassures the customer that their money is in good hands. 

3. Creating organic content.

Now, on a personal note,

When I visit Amazon, all my orders are prepaid regardless of the seller.

Why?

Because I trust Amazon.

If I go on another website,

I won't do the same thing because of the lack of trust factor.

And that’s why,

➡️ The best way for your business is to build a personal connection with the audience, to gain their trust,

And will eliminate RTO for your brand.

➡️ The best way to do this is by creating organic content.

While digital marketing is a great place to be,

RTO can be roadblocks in your journey,

so these golden tricks will help you not only to tackle them

but will also make your business successful in the long run.

And here’s the best part,

➡️ This blog has saved you months of hard work.

Otherwise, you would have worked hard on your business, but RTO would have destroyed it all.

So here’s an exclusive offer: if you want to save years of struggle,

An exclusive blend of my 6 years of digital marketing experience and golden meta strategies in my Facebook ads course.

Until then, Happy Digital Learning 😍