Returns and warranty claims are part of doing business in retail but the way they’re managed today often creates more work than necessary. Processes are slow, communication gets messy, and costs add up quickly. At the Retail Hive: Supply Chain Leaders Summit, we tackled this head-on and unpacked how to turn this pain point into a competitive advantage.
What’s really going wrong?
The most common complaints we see in returns and warranty claims processes boil down to:
- Capturing the right data when documenting returns and warranty claims
- Disconnected teams (customer service, warehouse, suppliers) working from different systems
- Clunky manual processes and outdated spreadsheets
- Limited data and poor reporting to prevent repeat issues
These problems don’t just waste time, they create friction for your teams, your suppliers, and your customers.
The root cause? A broken flow of information.
Most retailers simply don’t have a centralised way to track and manage returns and claims across the business. Without full traceability, from customer complaint to warehouse receipt, issues fall through the cracks.
So how do you fix it?
The answer isn’t just “tech for tech’s sake”, it’s about using the right tools to make people’s lives easier. Retailers can reduce costs and improve the customer experience by:
- Giving teams and suppliers one place to manage returns and claims
- Automating repetitive tasks (like forwarding cases to suppliers)
- Capturing the right data at the right stage, so you can act fast and learn from it
- Fixing warehouse blind spots so your team knows what’s arriving and when
Why centralisation is key
When you unify the returns and warranty claims process, every team benefits, not just operations. Customer service gets faster answers. The warehouse stops wasting time chasing info. Suppliers get cleaner handovers. And leadership finally gets the data to spot patterns and fix root causes.
Our take? Traceability is your superpower.
At Claimlane, we’ve seen how full traceability from the customer to the warehouse and everywhere in between transforms claims management. When you know what’s coming in, what’s been approved, what’s stuck, and why, you can fix issues at the source, not just put out fires.
Returns and claims don’t have to be a mess. With the right strategy and tools, they can create value for the business.
