optimising return logistics: what it is and how to improve it.

Author
Tessa Stoppelenburg

Date
13 September 2024

Category
Informative

Due to the continued growth of e-commerce, products are increasingly being returned. Yet many e-commerce companies often tend to neglect their returns process, because at first glance it does not seem to contribute to sales. However, efficient return logistics can contribute a lot to your online store, and by optimizing it, you can reduce costs, improve customer satisfaction, and ultimately increase sales. What exactly return logistics entails and how you can improve it to maximize your sales, you will find out in this article. 

What does return logistics mean?

Traditional areas of logistics focus on the delivery of products to the customer - specifically procurement, manufacturing and distribution. Return logistics, or Reverse Logistics, follows these processes with the return of products or materials from the customer back to the seller. In e-commerce, reverse logistics primarily includes returning products that do not meet customer expectations, are defect or are returned for some other reason after delivery.

Return logistics concerns not only the return process for the customer - how to register an ordered product as a return, create a return label and everything that includes shipping or returning it to the store - but also all internal business processes regarding planning, execution and managing the various return flows. Therefore, returns logistics involves all departments of the company: marketing and branding, customer service and, of course, the warehouse.

Kamera Express

From paper return forms to customer-friendly and profitable return logistics.

Kamera Express started in 1995 from a small garage box in Capelle aan den IJssel, Netherlands. The photo specialist now has more than 34 stores and operates in four countries. Until recently they still processed all their returns with paper return forms that had to be filled out manually by the customer. This resulted in forms that were often difficult to read, uncertainty about the arrival of returns in the warehouse, and an unclear return process resulted in a lot of customer service questions. In addition, different processes were required each time for the different return flows, which further complicated the return logistics.

Since Kamera Express has been using Returnless, customers can register their returns in advance using a digital form. This allows Kamera Express to gather extensive information about the reasons for returns and to ask follow-up questions or initiate certain actions immediately upon registering the return. This has resulted in a 5% decrease in the return rate. In addition, repairs can now be included in the return process and return logistics have been optimized so that regular returns as well as repairs and warranty cases can be processed in a central system. Thanks to standardized processes and templates, decoding illegible return requests has become history and returns take 3 minutes less to process.

You can read the entire Kamera Express success story here.

Smartphonehoesjes.nl

From 4.5 to 2.5 minutes processing time per return.

Smartphonehoesjes.nl has around 45,000 products in their store assortment. Fortunately, the Dutch webshop does have a relatively low return rate of 6%, but this still translates to around 350 returns per day that the company still processed manually until recently. This took an average of 4.5 minutes per return and on top of that, they regularly received questions about the return status that took customer service a lot of time to answer.

With Returnless, it only takes Smartphonehoesjes.nl 2.5 minutes to process a return internally. The logistics staff needs less than 30 seconds to process the return in the system as soon as it arrives in the warehouse. It then takes customer service just a minute to complete the entire administrative process and initiate the refund. Thanks to the user-friendly returns portal, customers can also view the status of their returns themselves at any time, which also means that answering questions about the status of returns takes much less time and effort.

You can read the entire success story of Smartphonehoesjes.nl here.

Travelbags

Reduced return rate thanks to detailed return data..

The Dutch company Travelbags is the largest online specialist in suitcases and bags and processes a significant number of orders each month. The quality requirements for the products are high and their size leads to relatively high return costs. This made Travelbags look for a solution to improve their return logistics.

With Returnless, Travelbags set up a digital returns process and discovered through detailed analytics in their returns portal that only 1% of the assortment was responsible for 17% of returns. This allowed Travelbags to make targeted adjustments to the product assortment. For example, by changing the description of these products on the website, re-evaluating the quality and conditions of the products, or removing them from the assortment entirely. The personalized approach also allowed a portion of the returns to be converted to the right purchase, which ultimately led to 20% new purchases.

You can read Travelbags' entire success story here.

Return logistics; the benefits at a glance.

Although at first glance return logistics may not seem to contribute directly to your online store's revenue, an optimized return process can absolutely help you maximize your sales. Here are all the benefits of optimized return logistics in a nutshell:

• With a clear returns policy and automation, you save staff costs.
• You can process your returns faster and more efficiently, so your customer service department gets fewer questions from impatient customers. Moreover, customers can see the status of their orders themselves in the returns portal.
• A good returns experience improves customer satisfaction and makes it more likely that customers will come back to you for their next purchase.
• Better insight into your returns process means fewer returns, which is better for the environment - thus contributing to the sustainability of your business.
• You can optimize your warehousing costs by proactively planning your warehouse inventory and returns.

Increase in revenue

With efficient returns logistics, you can increase your sales in several ways. You can save personnel costs with a partially automated returns process. For example, by having your customers pre-register their returns in a digital returns form. This allows you to process return requests through automated actions and with minimal manual effort. Smooth processing of your returns also contributes to a positive customer experience, increasing the likelihood that customers will come back to store with you again.

Another way to increase your turnover using your return logistics is by reducing the number of returns. For example by analyzing the reasons for returns. Based on these insights, you can further specify the product descriptions in your webshop, add better product photos or completely remove products that are not popular with your target group from the assortment.

Another way to maximize your sales is to offer your customers shopping credit by using coupons instead of giving them a refund. This way, you can be certain that the customer will be shopping with you again and you maintain sales.

Improve inventory management

Optimized return logistics also ensures better inventory management. Because your customers submit their returns digitally in advance, you can manage your return flows proactively. By asking follow-up questions when a return is submitted, you can find out in which return flow the return belongs. For example, you can have defective products automatically sent to your repair center or have your customer service check them by means of a photo upload. After all, it may already be clear after seeing the photo that the product cannot be repaired and you can save the return costs.

Now you will always know exactly which products are in your warehouse and unpacked return packages with unknown content are a thing of the past. This allows you to organize your storage optimally and you have a clear view on which products are returned, so your stock is automatically updated and products can be resold. 

Invest in your return logistics, Returnless will help you do just that.

Returnless is the all-in-one returns platform that allows you to easily manage all steps of your returns process. We will support you in setting up a clear return policy, so that all your returns can be processed quickly and you can offer your customers an optimal return experience. All employees involved in processing your returns have access to the same system as your customers. This way you know in advance how each return should be handled and you can easily recycle, dispose of or put products back on sale. In other words; a transparent return policy and smooth return logistics for you and your customers. 

Have we raised your interest? Want to optimize your return flows and discover all the benefits of Returnless' digital return process? Create a free trial account, schedule a product demo with one of our experts or see how it works first.