DAY ONE

Whoever owns returns, a new hire, an agency, or you on the Monday you decide returns are a retention problem, needs six things on day one.

1. Admin access to the returns portalWith its settings for outcomes, bonus credit, fees, refund timing and reason codes, and a history of every change to them.
2. A returns exportEvery return for twelve months, with order, customer, product, reason, outcome, request date, first scan date, receipt date and refund date.
3. Cost per returnFrom finance or the 3PL: label, handling, inspection and the share written off or sold below full price.
4. Contribution per orderFrom finance, so a bonus, a keep-it rule or a fee can be priced.
5. The terms, everywhere they appearPolicy page, product page, checkout, confirmation email and portal, with the date each was last changed.
6. A name at counselSomeone who will review the policy for each country you ship to within two weeks.

Do this

• Ask for all six in one message today. Whatever comes back slowest is where the business knows least about its returns.