How to manage customer complaints in e-commerce?

As an online retailer, you are aware that customer complaints are part of the job. Delays, order errors, product defects… Each situation tests your ability to react methodically and professionally. Managing these disputes is therefore an essential part of preserving your brand image and customer confidence.

According to the Observatoire des services clients 2025, 75% of the French population contacted a customer service department in 2024. This figure highlights how significantly the post-purchase experience and the quality of customer service influence the final purchasing decision. Responding quickly, accurately and transparently is therefore a real lever for differentiation. With well-structured customer complaint management, based on reliable and efficient CRM tools, smooth communication and a seamless customer experience, you can improve customer satisfaction and strengthen their trust.

Let’s find out together how to turn every complaint into a lever for customer satisfaction and loyalty

Customer complaints: from a challenge to an opportunity for customer loyalty

89% of consumers will not repeat a purchase if they are disappointed by the quality of customer service.

In e-commerce, this dissatisfaction has a direct impact on your sales and your digital customer relations. Limiting dissatisfaction must therefore be an absolute priority.

A high rate of customer complaints has several negative effects:

• Reduced visibility: on Rakuten, this rate is included in the calculation of the Merchant Quality Score (MQS), a score attesting to a seller’s reliability. If you have a low MQS, you’ll be featured less prominently on the marketplace. And less visibility means fewer sales.
• Loss of trust: a dissatisfied buyer questions your reliability and the quality of your customer service and your store, leading to a drop in customer retention.
• Damage to brand image: negative reviews have a lasting impact on your e-reputation, deteriorating the post-purchase experience.

Receiving customer complaints is inevitable. But rigorous, rapid dispute management with a strong focus on customer communication can reverse the trend. Effectively handled, complaints reinforce customer confidence, enhance your image and build customer loyalty.

How to limit customer complaints?

By following certain best practices, you can reduce the number of complaints from your buyers and maintain a quality relationship.

Detail your product adverts

Include all relevant information in your listings:

• Dimensions
• Product specifications
• Operating time
• Warranty
• Repairability index…

For electronic or household appliance items, it is important to specify which features are included or absent.

Pay particular attention to your visuals. Show the product in a real-life use scenario, from several angles and in a setting that reflects its function. High-quality, accurate visuals limit misinterpretation and therefore reduce returns. They also help in dispute resolution.

Communicate with transparency

To limit customer complaints, ensure clarity at every stage:

• Indicate the actual price of products, and specify any discounts, loyalty points or cashback.
• Mention delivery costs: included in the price, offered, or the amount depending on the method chosen.
• Clearly describe available shipping options and estimated delivery times.
• In the event of unforeseen circumstances (lost parcel, carrier error or delay, etc.), notify your buyers immediately via email, SMS, tracking link or integrated messaging.

This proactive communication limits the risk of disputes, enhances the quality of your customer service and allows you to maintain a digital relationship based on reliability and responsiveness.

Optimize your logistics

Smooth logistics reduce the number of complaints linked to late or lost parcels. Here are a few tips for improving your logistics:

1. Centralize your inventories
2. Automate repetitive tasks
3. Select reliable carriers
4. Offer several delivery options to meet every need

Have you considered entrusting your logistics to Rakuten Fulfillment Network? This turnkey service, already adopted by thousands of sellers, takes care of everything: storage, order preparation and dispatch, after-sales service and item returns. You gain in reliability, speed and, above all, time to develop your business.

With Rakuten Fulfillment Network, you offer your buyers fast delivery from the European Union (48 hours on average) and benefit from a satisfaction rate of 4.8/5.

5 steps to handling a customer complaint

Despite all these precautions, receiving customer complaints remains unavoidable. The challenge is to manage them effectively, to turn a negative experience into a loyalty-building lever.

Structure your complaints management process

Establishing a solid process lays the foundations for smooth, controlled management of customer complaints:

• Map each stage of the complaint process: receipt via email, chat or telephone, analysis, follow-up, then resolution.
• Allocate a single point of contact for each phase, in order to centralize exchanges, avoid duplication and guarantee consistent and transparent handling of each complaint.
• Adopt a consistent, professional and empathetic tone across all channels.
• Centralize exchanges using your CRM and ticketing tools to speed up responses and guarantee consistent quality of service.
• Finally, create a FAQ dedicated to recurring problems to lighten the load on your teams and focus your efforts on managing the most sensitive disputes.

Process requests quickly

In e-commerce, rapid response is a key factor in customer satisfaction. According to the Observatoire des services clients 2025, 65% of buyers feel that processing times exceed their expectations. Providing an initial response within 24 hours shows that managing customer complaints is a priority, and helps you build trust.

Even without an immediate solution, keeping buyers regularly informed maintains their commitment and positive perception of the service.

Offer concrete solutions

Every customer complaint requires a tailored response.

Analyze the situation, then propose an appropriate solution: refund, replacement of the item, voucher or commercial gesture. Buyers need to feel that you’re genuinely listening to them and understanding their needs.

If the request takes a long time to process, keep them informed at every stage, so that you can provide clear and reassuring follow-up.

Train your teams and prioritize the essentials

A high-performance e-commerce customer service is built on a well-trained team, aligned with the same practices and with a consistent approach to handling requests.

Each consultant must master the processes, adopt the same approach and maintain a consistent tone in handling disputes. Classify requests according to priority: urgency, impact on the customer, on the company (e-reputation, financial loss) or nature of the problem.

Complex claims require human intervention, while simpler ones can be handled by FAQs, chatbots or automated responses, to guarantee responsive, structured handling that’s tailored to each situation.

Use complaints to improve your service

Every customer complaint provides a concrete lesson in the shortcomings of your purchasing process or internal organization.

Analyze your key indicators: complaint rate, average resolution time, categories concerned (product, delivery, payment) and items most affected. By identifying recurring problems, you can guarantee sustainable service quality.