Returns & Refund Processing Backlog Cleared in 21 Days
Emergency returns processing deployment for a large online retailer during peak season — clearing a 45,000-item backlog and rebuilding normal operations.
The Challenge
A large online retailer accumulated a 45,000-item returns backlog after peak season — causing customer refund delays of 20+ days, a surge in social media complaints, and a 340% increase in support contact volumes from frustrated customers. Internal operations team was overwhelmed.
Our Approach
Deployed a 75-agent emergency returns processing team within 72 hours of contract signature.
Triaged backlog by age, refund value, and customer escalation status — oldest and highest-value cases prioritised first.
Built a parallel processing workflow: returns receipt confirmation, condition assessment, refund approval, and customer notification as separate workstreams running simultaneously.
Daily burn-down reporting to client's Operations Director — tracking backlog size, processing rate, and projected clearance date.
After backlog clearance, transitioned to steady-state returns management with a 24-hour processing SLA.
Related Engagements
Ready to Achieve Results Like These?
Tell us about your operational challenge — we'll show you exactly how we'd approach it.