Ina Garten's Return Policy For The Barefoot Contessa Store Was Genius

Before the best-selling cookbooks, before owning Barefoot Contessa, even before cooking, Ina Garten worked as a nuclear policy analyst at the White House. In fact, when she bought her specialty food store in the Hamptons in 1978, her only experience with grocery stores was from the shopper's side. This outsider's perspective meant she wasn't locked into established norms in the food world just because "that's how things are done." Later in her career, this inexperience led her to cooking techniques like undercooking chicken breast and letting the residual heat thoroughly cook it so it stays moist. One of the earliest examples of this consumer-over-insider perspective was a brilliant way of conducting returns at her store.

In her memoir, "Be Ready When the Luck Happens," Garten says that after processing the return and giving the customer their money back, "We'd ask what you didn't like about the product ... based on the answer — you don't like a dense chocolate cake, or the cake you got was overbaked — you got something free, such as a different chocolate cake or a new cake that wasn't overbaked." She found that this policy was an inexpensive way to turn her customers into repeat shoppers.

Ina Gartend's solution was not just giving the customer what they were directly asking for — their money back, thus making future purchases feel less risky – but also providing a solution to their problem. She showed the customer that she and her staff were there to help them make and enjoy food how they liked it. Her store was not a place to shop at and hope for the best when they got home, but a place they could be certain they would walk away from with exactly what they wanted.

This policy also is sure to reduce the amount of returns in the future. When a customer knows the staff is on their side and can help them find what they want, fewer purchases are made in error.

Garten was dedicated to her store; she would personally curate and restock Barefoot Contessa's shelves once a week at 3 a.m. Unsurprisingly, dedication paid off with an equally dedicated fan base!