Manage the returns experience by considering customer satisfaction, stock accuracy, financial control, and product recovery.
Product returns are more comprehensive than simply reversing a sale. Verifying the right to return requires locating the original transaction, assessing the physical condition of the product, planning logistics, determining inventory status, and applying the correct refund method.
The fact that furniture products can be bulky, assembled, configured, or custom-made makes the return process more complex. Minerva links returns, whether collected in-store or at the customer's address, to sales, orders, invoices, payments, deliveries, and product records.
Return acceptance and verification
Locating the original transaction using receipt, invoice, order, customer history, or serial information.
Return scenarios include items with receipts, items without receipts, gifts, and items returned from different stores.
Checking the return period, product type, campaign, and personalized production conditions.
Reason for return, customer explanation, and supporting images.
A record of the product's condition: unused, opened, damaged, assembled, or with missing parts.
Approval process for returns requiring authorization or outside of policy scope.
Risk controls for suspicious or recurring return behaviors.
The subsequent state of the physical product.
Directly resalable stock
Quality control or quarantine
Repair, cleaning, or renovation
Reclassification as outlet or display item
Return to supplier
Parts separation, recycling, or scrap.
Customer pickup and reverse logistics
Repayment and financial records
Refunds may be made to the original payment method, store credit, gift card, or another method compliant with company policy. The returned item must be recalculated taking into account taxes, promotions, used coupons, commissions, and loyalty points. Financial responsibility for returns between franchise and company stores must be determined separately.
Generate corporate learning from return reasons.
Reasons for returns, such as incorrect measurements, color discrepancies, quality issues, delivery damage, insufficient information, or customer expectations, should be analyzed for product and process improvement. Return data should be evaluated within its context to understand the root cause, not to penalize sales employee performance.
Manage the return process not just as a refund, but as a process that protects customer trust, recovers as much product value as possible, and generates corporate learning.