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How to manage ecommerce returns efficiently | Reduce costs and improve customer experience

Returns are one of the biggest challenges in ecommerce. They impact ...

Returns are one of the biggest challenges in ecommerce. They impact profitability, warehouse operations, and customer experience.

Troy Graham from Descartes shares real-world examples of how ecommerce brands are handling ...returns, where things go wrong, and what you can do to stay in control.

Chapters (timestamps)
00:00 Beginning
00:08 Title and presentation
00:37 The Scale of the Return Problem
01:14 A Perfect Example: Two Sides of the Same Policy
02:42 Fraud Stories That Shock Brands
03:49 What Good Returns Processing Looks Like
04:35 Personal Example: Why Quality Control Matters

Returns don’t have to drain your margins. With the right approach, you can turn returns into a controlled, efficient part of your operation.

Talk to an expert to improve your returns strategy: https://www.descartes.com/solutions/ecommerce-shipping-fulfillment/contact

Transcript excerpts

Today I'm going to talk about some of the impact that we've heard from a lot of our retail brands around returns and managing returns, and the combination of using both technology and people to drive a good customer experience.

One example that came up just recently was an apparel brand. And I talked to two different people inside of the company. One person was on the customer service/customer satisfaction side of the business, and then one was on the operational side in the warehouse.

When I spoke to the customer service leader, he's like, “It was amazing. We killed it. We did a great job. We had a really clear policy on our website, and it was, 'If you're unhappy for any reason, here's a date. You can return anything to us by that date.'"

And in this example, I think they did a great job from a customer standpoint. And we talk to the operational people. They said, “It was a disaster.”

And he showed me this corner of his warehouse, and it was just piled with boxes. And he's like, “That's our returns area. We have hundreds of things that we've received that are returned from our customers, that are in piles, and we don't know what they are.”

And unfortunately, we've already given these customers refunds. We've missed the prime selling season. We've missed an opportunity to resell that product because we couldn't get it processed and evaluated quickly.

Fraud, which has been a big topic this year...

And I talked to another company. They sell, essentially, like, footwear. And I said, “Hey, tell me, like, how does fraud impact your returns?”

And he just sort of laughed. He goes, “It's amazing. It's like, it's unbelievable. We get back used shoes all the time.”

What this particular business did was, they said, “So we've got to change our policies. We can't issue a refund to a customer just because they put a label on the box and the box is in transit back to us.”

They had technology, so in the warehouse, they could receive that product, and quickly, the person receiving it could evaluate it.

And that evaluation would simply be: It's new, it can go back on the shelf for sale, or it could be there's a problem with it. We can't resell. It's a true instance of fraud.

It allowed them to very quickly make an initial diagnosis of that item and either issue a credit to try to keep customer satisfaction high (and have a really good customer service experience), or they could at least flag it quickly and say, “Don't issue a credit. Something else has to happen.”

The reason that efficient processing of the return, I think, is so important is: If I receive something back from a customer, if it's in like-new condition, I want to be able to sell it right away.

Step one is just thinking about it before, you know, we get into peak season. Like, what are we going to do with returns?

And then, as brand scale and returns become, you know, higher volume and ultimately more expensive for brands, I think it's about implementing technology.

We think about using mobile scanners to identify, well, whose order is it that I just received? And indicating the condition of that order.

And that can quickly go back to my customer-facing technology, like the ecommerce site, and say, “Oh, okay, this return, we received it. It's in good condition. Send off a credit to my customer. Issue a refund.”

Don't let it pile up and let time go by. Make sure that we have somebody focused on receiving those returns, understanding the condition of the items, and let's get back to those customers.

It can be challenging. Don't ignore it, and don't feel bad. Lots of people struggle with how to do this efficiently.

My hope would be let's put in some technology, so it can be fast and cost-effective for you and a great customer experience, so that your end consumer ultimately will come back and buy from you again.

#ecommerce #returns #reverselogistics #inventorymanagement #supplychainsecretsShow More

How to offset tariff volatility with kits and bundles | Reduce shipping costs and protect margins

Rising shipping costs and tariff volatility are putting pressure on ...

Rising shipping costs and tariff volatility are putting pressure on ecommerce margins. Gary Basko from Descartes explains how kits and bundles help you reduce shipping costs, protect margins, and sell ...more units without increasing order volume.

Chapters (timestamps)

00:00 Beginning
00:07 Title and presentation
00:17 Tariffs Impact Shipping & Landed Costs
00:50 Shipping Is Hurting Margins
01:23 Kits & Bundles as a Tactical Response
01:59 Why Sellers Hesitate to Use Kits
02:46 How Technology Fixes the Nightmare
03:25 Revenue Depends on Units
03:49 What Retailers Should Do Today

Shipping doesn’t have to be a margin killer. With the right strategy, you can turn cost pressure into a more efficient, profitable operation.

Talk to an expert to optimize your shipping and inventory strategy: https://www.descartes.com/solutions/ecommerce-shipping-fulfillment/contact

#ecommerce #shippingcosts #inventorymanagement #productbundling #supplychain #ecommercegrowth #Descartes #Sellercloud

Transcript Excerpts

The biggest issues our customers are seeing right now are the increased cost of shipping, and, due to the increased cost of shipping in the volatility in the trade markets, making sure that they are optimizing every dollar that is being spent. And every dollar that is coming into the business is something that is becoming ever more urgent.

Shipping is the margin killer. As fuel pricing goes up, as gas prices are going up, that's increasing the cost to ship everything. If my shipping costs are going up to how I ship to my customer, the costs that I also pay to ship products into my warehouse, those freight fees are also increasing.

It’s a tough thing that a lot of our customers try to figure out. And it’s not cut and dried because everybody has different pricing that they can negotiate, at different times, with these carriers.

There’s a trend with other sellers. Understanding the sweet spot in your shipping, that’s a big thing.

Selling one-packs, my cost of shipping is eating away at my margins. If I sell three units, now I'm actually making the 30% margin that I should be making. If you bundle them together, you're going to be able to use that “sweet spot” box type.

Not only are you saving more by shipping more units in one box, but you're also saving more because you're in that very particular “sweet spot” range that you've negotiated with these different carriers.

When they come to us and they want to do kits, they're afraid of doing it because there's an issue with sales to operations. It’s a logistics nightmare if you don't have tools like us.

You might be looking at your costs incorrectly, not tracking things properly down to the right dollar. Now you’re selling a SKU at a loss and another one well above profit.

If you're doing this with spreadsheets, the odds that there's going to be a discrepancy within this, and now you're overselling… If I cancel an order on Amazon and that's my primary channel, and I'm selling on a listing that I have to fight over the Buy Box for, I could lose that Buy Box space.

And now I have to go ahead and pay additional money. I have to lower my pricing. It’s an operational nightmare.

Sellercloud and then another product that we actually offer under the Descartes umbrella, too, which is Finale, does really great with kits and bundles because you track inventory on a component level.

As orders are coming in from the marketplaces, we're able to properly reserve inventory on the components, we're able to tell our customers what they need to pick, what they need to ship out of the warehouse.

And then from there, we're automating everything from the warehouse floor back up to the marketplaces. So, we’re not overselling, we’re not underselling, and we’re maximizing all the momentum on the SKUs that we have listed, based on the inventory we can actually sell.

Honestly, the biggest challenge is: How do we sell more units? That's the big challenge. How do we sell more? That's the always the biggest question.

Using kits and bundles, you're going to be saving a ton on the cost of shipping. You're going to be selling more units with less orders.

Again, the revenue is truly tied to the number of units that you're selling, not just the number of orders that are being shipped out of the warehouse.

If you don't understand where these fees are or where these costs are coming from, the first thing I recommend is speaking to an expert. Talk to a consultant. That's the reason why people like me exist.

We're more than happy to speak with customers just like you, to see where you're having issues and help you figure out what you should be accounting for and how it should be accounted for as well.

If you don't know somebody else does.

Eliminate the spreadsheets, eliminate the headaches of manual labor or manual calculations and automate the inventory workflows, that are really going to help, grow you as a business.Show More

Cut Shipping Costs and Protect Margins with Kits and Bundles | Descartes

Tariffs are rising. Freight costs are climbing. And your landed cost ...

Tariffs are rising. Freight costs are climbing. And your landed cost is higher than ever.

In this short clip, Gary Basko from Descartes explains why ecommerce business leaders must focus ...on maximizing revenue, not just cutting operational expenses. When product costs exceed the vendor price, protecting margins becomes critical.

One proven strategy? Kits and bundles.

By bundling products strategically, you can:

• Reduce per-unit shipping costs

• Protect pricing to avoid losing customers

• Maintain loyalty even as costs rise

• Offset higher freight and tariff expenses

If your landed costs are squeezing profitability, this is a practical approach worth exploring.

Looking to get started with kits and bundles while controlling ecommerce operations?

Talk to an expert to see how smarter inventory and fulfillment strategies can help you protect margins: https://www.descartes.com/solutions/ecommerce-shipping-fulfillment/contact

#Ecommerce #InventoryManagement #ShippingStrategy #Tariffs #Fulfillment #EcommerceGrowth

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Video Transcript – Maximize Revenue with Kits & Bundles

Featuring Gary Basko, Senior Account Executive, Descartes

So, the duties and the tariffs are actually something we track in Sellercloud to calculate what is called landed cost. But the problem is, as the tariffs are increasing, and as my shipping costs are going up, how I ship to my customer, the cost that I also pay to ship products into my warehouse, those freight fees are also increasing.

And that's why it's so much more important to maximize revenue the $100 that I used to pay for a product... Yeah, I still pay that $100 to the vendor, but now I'm paying another $50, maybe, when I'm adding in the freight. And so my costs to actually get the product, not just to buy it, but to get it into my warehouse, are so much more...

I either have to do one of two things: I either have to figure out how to cut my costs internally... That's where kits and bundles help out, because then I can cut my shipping costs and maintain (or try to maintain) the pricing that I have, to maintain the customer loyalty.Show More