The problem
Returns arrive with no note: a jiffy bag, a pair of trousers and a handwritten name. Working out the client, order and reason takes time. If a warehouse gets 150 returns a month and each takes 8 minutes to identify and process, that's 1,200 minutes, 20 hours a month, and some are never matched at all.
What the AI does
ShipStation's UK pricing page lists return labels on every plan, and a returns portal, returns reporting and RMA workflows on Standard and above. Each client's customers start a return online, so it arrives with a return number tied to the original order and a reason. Your team scans it, checks the item and books it back into stock or quarantine. The returns report shows each client what came back and why.
A worked example
A fulfillment warehouse in Bradford handles about 150 returns a month across 4 fashion and homeware clients, and already ships about 2,000 parcels a month.
Before
About 8 minutes a return to identify, match and process: 1,200 minutes, 20 hours a month
After
About 3 minutes a return with the order and reason already attached: 450 minutes, 7.5 hours a month
What it's worth
About $250£188€224A$361C$353 a month saved, against $173£130€155A$250C$244 for ShipStation Standard at 2,000 shipments a month. That's 12.5 hours (20 minus 7.5) at an assumed $20£15€18A$29C$28 an hour. If the warehouse already uses Standard for shipping rules, the returns portal adds no cost. Who pays for the return postage is between your clients and their customers.
How to set it up
- Agree each client's returns policy: who pays postage, time limit and what happens to damaged items.
- Set up the returns portal for each client and link it from their website's returns page.
- Set what your team does on arrival: scan, inspect, grade and book back into stock or quarantine.
- Send each client a monthly returns report with reasons.
- Keep a shelf for returns that arrive without a return number and clear it weekly.
What goes wrong
- The portal only helps if clients link to it. Returns sent the old way still arrive as mystery parcels.
- Standard is priced by outbound shipments, so a growing client can move you up a band.
- Charge clients for processing returns; a portal that makes returns easy can increase them.
- Returns contain customers' names and addresses. Handle and dispose of packaging and notes securely.