How Top Brands Use Loop's Workflows to Transform Their Returns Management

How Top Brands Use Loop's Workflows to Transform Their Returns Management

Loop’s Workflows feature empowers merchants to build custom rules on top of their standard returns policies. By setting up Workflows, you can create exceptions to your general returns policies based on specific criteria, with pre-set outcomes based on different variables.

Loop uses conditional logic to help you automate the outcomes of return requests that fall outside of your standard policy rules. This enables you to set up specific outcomes for common scenarios that differ from your standard return policy, helping you resolve such issues instantly without the need to escalate to your CX team. Ultimately Workflows help you to operate smarter - so you waste less and retain more revenue and customers.

Common situations in which you might use Workflows include:

• Extending the returns window
  • During the holidays Many merchants provide longer time periods for returns during the holiday season, knowing that many items are being purchased as gifts that won’t be opened immediately. By implementing Workflows for purchases made during a certain time period (i.e. Nov 10 - Jan 10), you can automatically lengthen the returns window for these purchases—for example, from 30 to 60 days.
  • For specific customersIf you want to reward your most frequent customers, offering them special perks like an everyday extended returns window is a great way to do it. By creating a customer segment for them, you can set up a Workflow that entitles them to a longer returns window.
  • For specific productsYou might also offer longer return windows on specific products or product categories. For instance, electronics products are often high-value, and customers may need more time to decide whether they’d like to keep a new purchase. You can extend their return window based on "Product - Tag", "Product - SKU", "Product - ID", or "Product - Type.”
• Reject returns on final sale items
  • If you’re discounting a product for a final sale, you’ll want to disallow return requests. You can easily identify your final sale products by using a “tag at time of purchase” setting, which will ensure that even if the product is no longer tagged as final sale, it will be treated as such in your system whenever your shopper attempts a return request. You can choose to either “reject item,” forbidding any return requests; or to block refunds but allow shoppers to exchange the item for a substitute.
• Waive fees based on return reason
  • Sometimes, the customer will request a return because the item is defective, broken, didn’t arrive on time, or they received the wrong item. In these scenarios, if you’d normally charge return shipping fees, it’s a good idea to waive these costs. You can set up a Workflow based on the return reason that waives fees for customers with specific return reasons. 
• Reject returns on worn items
  • If your customer has worn an item and removed the tags or hygiene strip, it likely doesn’t meet criteria for a refund. In this case, you can set up a Workflow that asks your shopper if the item has been worn: If no, you can default to your standard return policy; if yes, you can choose to either reject the return request or offer an exchange while blocking refund requests.
• Review high-risk returns
  • Loop’s Fraud Model can identify return requests that are considered “high risk” due to factors that are consistent with fraudulent activities. In these cases, you can set up a Workflow to implement a manual inspection process that affirms an item is return-eligible prior to granting a refund on the product. For returns that are not flagged as high risk, the refund or exchange request can be processed during the initial return request or when the item is scanned by a carrier, per the retailer’s standard policy. 

Real-World Success Stories: Loop Workflows in Action

Next, let’s look at some use cases of how merchants are using Workflows to streamline their returns operations and save money and time through automation.

CLIQ uses Workflows to send warranty items to a different destination

CLIQ is an ecommerce brand known for its portable beach and camping chairs, which can be folded up to the size of a water bottle. The brand has a warranty policy for its premium product lines, EpiQ and MysticQ, stating that if the product breaks, CLIQ will replace it with a new product. That means that these warranty returns are sent back to a different warehouse location than other products. CLIQ implemented a workflow that mandates that if a customer returns either of these specific products for a warranty-related reason, they will route the return to the alternative destination - getting the product back to the right destination, faster and more efficiently. Saving time, money and creating the best experience for customers and CLIQ.

MUNICIPAL uses Workflows to add return instructions

MUNICIPAL, Mark Wahlberg’s sports apparel brand, uses Workflows to determine whether the customer is returning a pair of shoes or a different product type. If they’re returning shoes, they’ll receive additional instructions requesting them to also include the laces, shoe bag, and shoe box in their return to be eligible for a refund. If the customer is not returning shoes, they are presented with the standard return flow. By customizing the returns experience, merchants can increase their resellable inventory while giving customers a smoother process - all while reducing the workload on customer service teams.

Topicals uses Workflows to customize return policies by “worn” status

Topicals, a line of all-natural skincare products, used Workflows to build a customized returns process that varies by product type and condition. Because they sell beauty products, opened items can’t be resold for hygienic reasons—but the customer is still entitled to a refund under their standard 30-day return policy. Using Workflows to understand which items should be returned to inventory helps Topicals preserve revenue while eliminating the expense of unnecessary return shipping for products that can’t be sold again. See the case study.

Ready to learn more about how Loop Workflows can elevate your brand's customer experience? Let’s chat!