Our client is a renowned entertainment company. As part of their operations, they sell items themed around their intellectual property, including magic wands that could be used to control smart devices.
The Client
The Challenge
As with any product, there will be a portion that are defective. Our client estimated that approximately 3% of the wands would be returned. This meant they would need to hold approximately 4500 in reserve to be shipped as replacements when customers returned defective wands.
To avoid added pressure on their everyday customer care and fulfillment operations, the client outsourced the returns process for these wands to Harte Hanks.
Our Solution
All calls relating to complaints about the wands were directed to our customer care division, which supported the client with make-it-right messaging we had crafted for their brand. From here, if a customer decided they wanted to return their wand, we would assign them a case number and email them a shipment label. This label could be applied to their product’s packaging and the box could be shipped to our warehouse in East Bridgewater, MA.
Upon arrival, the product would be verified against our case number to eliminate fraud. The condition the item was in would be recorded, as would the nature of the problem, to provide the client with data they could use to avoid similar faults in future product lines. Fulfillment of a replacement would then be approved by the customer care division and shipped out the next day.
The Results
The returns outsourcing has been a success. Defective wands have been retrieved, validated and checked to eliminate fraud and replacements have been shipped quickly and accurately, preserving the brand’s reputation and their customers’ satisfaction. Wands that have been retrieved are quarantined until the run comes to an end, when they will be recycled.
The quantity of replacement items stocked at our warehouse can be directly monitored by the client, to better gauge future return rates and speed replenishment if levels run low.