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Eight stops on the trip a return takes. Each has a number that tells you how it’s going, and a way it quietly goes wrong.
Every return passes the same eight stops. Most brands measure the return rate and the cost, and nothing in between.
| Stop | The question | The number that tells you | Where it leaks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. The promise | Did they know the terms before they paid? | Tickets asking about returns, per 100 orders | Terms that differ between product page, policy page and portal |
| 2. The request | Can they start a return in under a minute? | Portal start-to-finish rate; return tickets per 100 returns | An order lookup that needs a number nobody kept |
| 3. The choice | Were they offered something better than money back? | Share of returns ending in exchange, credit or refund | A hidden refund button, or a bonus paid to people who’d have exchanged anyway |
| 4. The trip | Is sending it back easy? | Days from request to first carrier scan | Labels that need a printer; drop-off points far away |
| 5. The money | When does the refund land? | Days from first scan to refund | Refunds waiting in the warehouse queue |
| 6. The goods | What happens to what came back? | Share back on sale within 14 days; recovery rate | Returns sitting in a corner losing season |
| 7. The reason | What did it teach you? | Top three reasons by product, and “other” as a share | Vague reason codes nobody reads |
| 8. The next order | Did they come back? | Twelve-month repeat rate by how the return ended | Nobody measures it, so every policy is set on cost alone |
The stops interact. A fee at stop 3 lowers cost at stop 6 and can quietly empty stop 8. Strict inspection protects stop 6 and stretches stop 5 by a week. Fixing one stop in isolation often moves the cost rather than removing it.
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Written by Andrew Lauchner, a growth and retention operator for consumer brands. The paid work is one ninety-day Sprint.
This is one chapter of The Return Trip, which is free and readable in full on a single page with no form in front of it.