A Step-by-Step Guide to Building an Intelligent Returns Management Process for Retailers
Gaurav Saran
Founder and CEO, ReverseLogix
The smartest retailers aren’t the ones with the biggest systems. They’re the ones who listen, learn from every return, improve continuously, and move fast to serve customers better.
While running a business in a heavily contested market comes with its share of complexities, it can escalate in a business like retail, which deals with high volumes and razor-thin margins. Gaining customers and ensuring they keep coming back is an arduous task, especially when they can be lost at the slightest sign of inconvenience.
Since the advent of e-commerce, retailers have devoted considerable attention to ensuring an impeccable customer experience. That said, the limelight has predominantly stayed on the forward fulfillment aspect of retail, with top management relegating the returns experience to being a cost center rather than a strategic growth lever.
The logic behind this reasoning is simple — it’s the forward fulfillment (or simply put, sales numbers) that keep a business running. This argument has flipped over the last few years, as retailers increasingly realize that regular patrons can turn away from the brand if their returns are not serviced with the same finesse that they have learnt to expect in forward fulfillment.
At the center of the returns management problem lie the legacy systems. Besides eroding customer trust, these systems can create data silos, inventory blind spots, and process inefficiencies, leading to the loss of valuable products.
1. Audit the Truth: Map Every Return Step
To achieve better inventory recovery and fewer returns altogether, brands will need to focus not just on cutting-edge software but also on the processes that can lead to smarter returns management. There are five simple yet essential steps to transition from clunky legacy tools to intelligent, connected returns that genuinely support the retail process.
2. Define What Better Looks Like
Just like everything else, it is hard to improve what you do not understand, which is why, in the quest for smarter returns, it is necessary to audit the entire return process — from customer initiation to refund, and what happens with the returned products. Retailers should identify every handoff, system, and manual task in the returns process to pinpoint where delays occur. Then measure them.
Critical questions, such as how long it takes from a return request to a processed refund, and how many products are returned but never resold, must be answered factually. But it is also important to note that on this level, the goal isn’t to fix the returns process yet; it’s to face reality.
Goals give technology purpose. After mapping out the returns flow, the next step is to find areas of the returns process where running smarter or more efficiently will favour the e-commerce platform. However, retailers should not fall into the trap of going after everything. Achieving just one or two goals per cycle can lead to significant improvements in the returns management process.
The goal could be to reduce the average refund time, resell more of the returned products, or streamline the manual return approval process. Whatever the case, however, it is essential to ensure that this step aligns operations with leadership, as it is not just about “fixing returns,” but also about reducing costs, improving product data, and retaining customers.
3. Modernize the Infrastructure
E-commerce is becoming increasingly complex. And relying on the usual tools, such as spreadsheets, email approvals, or siloed apps, to manage returns can slow down retailers and, in some cases, cripple the entire returns management operation because these tools weren’t designed for e-commerce returns.
Modern returns platforms consolidate returns data, customer communication, warehouse routing, and supplier coordination into a single, connected system. They also support key operational requirements, such as real-time return tracking, automated label creation, refund triggers based on checkpoints (not human boxes), and smart routing to the right warehouse or vendor.
Modernizing the returns infrastructure will unlock smarter return operations, helping you meet your goals more quickly and efficiently. However, it is also important to note that automation isn’t about replacing people, but rather unlocking their potential for more effective outcomes.
- Which products drive the most returns by size or color
- Which customers return often but never buy again
- Which return reasons point to supplier issues
Returns data is only useful if you act on it. Unfortunately, it is now common to see retailers collecting valuable data, but they often fail to study or act on it. Data can be incredibly valuable in transforming an entire business. The retailers that leverage them when making key decisions about merchandising, sizing, packaging, and even suppliers often find they are incredibly valuable and can transform an entire business when used correctly.
Here are some examples of what smart returns data can uncover:
Review the returns data periodically, set alerts, and take action on identified patterns. Build learning into your process because every return tells a story. The question is whether or not the retailer is listening.
Without trust and buy-in from the people or team, technology will not have a meaningful impact. And in some cases, it just fails outright. This is why the final step in building smarter returns is ensuring that your people can and want to utilize the new system. However, that means investing in training, clarity, and support.
Retailers often struggle with integrating new tech infrastructure into returns processes when, for example, teams prefer to continue using email instead of the returns portal, warehouse staff do not trust the auto-routing logic, or suppliers fail to receive timely feedback on product issues. To fix the buy-in problem, do the following:
- Train in small groups. Focus on how the new tools save time, not just on their functionality.
- Bring partners in early. Share return data with suppliers so they fix product issues upstream.
- Share wins. Show how faster refunds improved repeat orders.
In our experience providing an end-to-end returns management system, the smartest retailers aren’t the ones with the biggest systems. They’re the ones who leverage smarter returns to learn, to improve, and to move fast. It is about going from bloated technology to intelligent systems. Smarter returns aren’t just a luxury for the select few. They’re the backbone of a healthy e-commerce and retail operation.
4. Use Data to Get Smarter Every Month
5. Make the Change Stick with People
Wrap Up
About ReverseLogix
ReverseLogix is the only end-to-end, centralized, and fully integrated returns management system built specifically for retail, ecommerce, manufacturing and 3PL organizations. Whether B2B, B2C or hybrid, the ReverseLogix platform facilitates, manages, and reports on the entire returns’ lifecycle. Organizations that rely on ReverseLogix deliver a vastly superior customer returns experience, save employee time with faster workflows, and increase profits with 360⁰ insight into returns data. For more information, visit
NoV 2025
