The returns cage in January
After peak the returns cage fills faster than the team can empty it. Parcels arrive with no returns note, or a note with an order number from the wrong client. Each item has to be checked, and what counts as resellable is different for everyone. One fashion client wants tags still attached and no makeup marks, and will accept steamed items. A cosmetics client wants anything opened destroyed. A homeware brand wants chipped items kept aside for a sample sale.
The rules are printed and pinned above the bench, and they are out of date. Meanwhile the clients' customers are waiting for refunds, and the clients email every day to ask which returns have been processed.
Why returns are slower than they need to be
The WMS usually handles a return as stock coming back in, with a condition status. It does not know the client's grading rules, does not ask for the right checks, and does not tell the client's shop platform to refund. The judgement, the record and the communication are all left to people.
| Step | Where it slows down |
|---|---|
| Identify the parcel | No paperwork, so staff search orders by name or postcode |
| Grade the item | Rules vary by client and category, looked up by hand |
| Decide the outcome | Restock, rework, return to client or dispose, per client rule |
| Record the evidence | Photos taken inconsistently, not linked to the return |
| Tell the client | A daily spreadsheet, or nothing until they ask |
What the backlog costs
Unprocessed returns are stock the client cannot sell, often during the sales when they most need it. Their customers wait for refunds and complain, and the client blames the warehouse. Inconsistent grading causes a second problem: items restocked that should not have been, which come back again as complaints.
Returns are also hard to bill fairly. If you charge per return plus extra for rework, the extras get missed when they are not recorded at the bench.
The returns flow we build
- Identification: scan the returns label, the original order barcode or type a name or postcode, and the system finds the order across your clients' records.
- Per-client grading screens: the checks that client requires, in order, with their grades and what each grade means.
- Outcome rules applied automatically from the grade: back to pickable stock, to a rework location, to a return-to-client pallet or to disposal.
- Photos and reasons captured on the bench device and kept with the return record.
- Stock updates written to your WMS, and billable activity recorded, including rework such as re-bagging or re-tagging.
- A feed to the client: a returns report or a direct update to their shop platform, such as Shopify, so they can issue refunds based on the grade you recorded.
Clients can change their own rules through a settings page you approve, so the bench always shows the current version.
A cage that empties
Returns staff follow the screen instead of the binder, so a new temp grades the way the client wants. Clients see processed returns as they happen and refund promptly. Rework and returns handling are billed from what was actually recorded at the bench.
Signs your returns need this
- Grading rules are on paper at the returns bench.
- Returns arrive with no paperwork and take time to identify.
- Clients chase you to find out which returns are processed.
- Rework on returns is not always billed.
- Returned items sometimes go back to stock when they should not.