Seamless returns with the Payment Calculator

Imagine this scenario: A shopper wants to return some items and pay only for the products they are keeping. A seemingly simple customer expectation. Yet, one that creates unnecessary challenges in e-commerce every day.

With our Payment Calculator, a central feature in the Buyer Portal, we solve exactly this problem. How? Find out in this article.

By the way: This article is part three of our Buyer Portal series. You can find the first article here.

The overlap of returns and reminders: a never-ending story

E-commerce is finally growing again. And as the number of shoppers increases, returns are also rising significantly. According to a forecast by returns researcher Björn Asdecker, the number of returns in Germany climbed to a whopping 550 million last year. A new record.

This makes it even more important that returns management and the payment process are tightly aligned. However, this is often where things go wrong – with unnecessary

overlaps that can ultimately cost customer loyalty.

Why? Because both the online shop and the payment provider need to be informed about the return in good time. If not, unjustified payment reminders are sent.

Let’s look at two examples of this:

• The payment provider receives the return information after the payment deadline has expired and automatically issues the reminder.
• Or shoppers proactively pay the adjusted amount – only to receive a reminder for a supposedly insufficient amount.

Why returns management is often inconvenient for shoppers

In practice, many payment providers work like this:
If a return is registered after the payment deadline, shoppers automatically receive a reminder. Even if the return is already on its way or being processed.

To update the invoice, shoppers must manually register the return in the respective portal and wait until the merchant has fully confirmed the return.

At Ratepay, we believe that shoppers should not receive unjustified reminders. Nor should they have to respond to them. Instead, they should be able to adjust the payment amount themselves as soon as a return is made. Transparently, securely, and in real time.

That's exactly why we integrated the Payment Calculator into our Buyer Portal.

The Payment Calculator as a central feature of the Buyer Portal

With the user-friendly Payment Calculator, your customers can not only register returns and adjust the payment amount in real time. They can do it all in one place: the Buyer Portal.

This means they no longer need to switch between different portals, such as e-wallets and online shop accounts, or contact customer service to manage a return. A streamlined process that reduces friction for shoppers and workload for your support teams.

Yes, it can be that easy to adjust, return, and pay.

More convenience and fewer friction points

The Buyer Portal goes far beyond the services offered by many other payment providers. Not only can returns be registered early. Shoppers can also inform both the shop and the payment provider in real time which items they want to return.

At the same time, the amount due is updated in real time, and shoppers can pay it immediately. They no longer need to wait for the merchant to register the return and for the payment provider to adjust the amount.

A small step that pays off in loyalty. Promise!

In short: If someone uses the Buyer Portal to return items and still receives a reminder, there is only one reason: the payment deadline was truly exceeded.

Curious to learn more?

Explore our overview article to learn more about the features and benefits of the Buyer Portal.

Read the article now