Disconnected order management and slower returns processing impact customer experience

Order management has become one of the top operational concerns for ecommerce MLM companies. Because without an efficient process in place, it impacts payouts, cash flow, and customer experience. Delayed order returns can cause commission overpayments and return rejections can lead to customer dissatisfaction. In skincare business, late returns close to the product’s expiry date turn it into deadstock and causes revenue loss for the company.

One of our clients in the sector was facing similar challenges related to order and return management. They operated through a global ecommerce website and a large network of sellers from different regional markets. The inventory management system was centralized but the company continuously faced issues during returns and refunds management, especially when the return or refund requests occurred after the payout cycle. Overpayment and commission calculation errors raised the number of support tickets. At times, the company had to hold back distributor commissions until the return window closed, which affected distributor motivation and network engagement.

What the skincare MLM company urgently needed was an automated Returns Management Software that can manage orders, returns, refunds, and commissions efficiently.

Order management

Automated RMA Software for easy returns and order management

Product integration experts at Epixel MLM Software integrated an RMA Software with its existing ecommerce MLM platform. Return and refund requests were automatically handled by the system without the support of a customer-facing team. The system was built with strict rules and checkpoints in such a way that it does not impact the financial processes of the organization.

Automated return eligibility checks

Every return or refund request was subjected to automated eligibility checks to ensure fairness in the process. The company can set return period for each product, lot, country, or rank.

The return eligibility checks were integrated into customer and distributor portals and automated approvals ensured faster refunds processing. The system generates RMA and shipping labels for approved returns. Non-returnable products were rejected by the system.

Real-time inventory tracking for returns

The return quality checkpoints functioned based on FIFO and LIFO inventory rules. The system classified returned products as damaged or expired items and rerouted them to inventory write-offs or recycling. The system assigns the task of inspecting to concerned team members and their details were recorded in the system.

The regulated skincare products can be tracked easily using a lot and serial number tracking feature to ensure compliance and easy access to regulatory checks. An automated reorder reminders were sent to designated team members when stock levels went below a set limit. This kept the stock available at all times ready to dispatch on demand.

Commission payout and recovery engine

The commission system ensured that all distributors received their payouts on time. In case of returns and refunds, the system recalculates commissions based on the returned product value. Return request was linked to its original order, product, and distributor. The company can also set a commission clawback period for safer commission payment.

Discrepancies were managed by adjusting and recording negative commission balances within the payout system itself.

Transaction and tax ledger system

All transactions were recorded in a double-entry ledger format to create a clear audit trail that the company can track to ensure financial accuracy across processes and systems. The transaction and tax ledger management system automatically records product sale, return, commission adjustment, or tax update in real-time.

Whenever a return request is logged, the system processes the corresponding tax reversals according to the regional tax regulations. The company could easily handle various tax transactions across multiple markets with compliance. Since all sales, returns, commissions, and inventory-related financial adjustments were managed in a centralized system, reconciliation became easier for finance teams.

Return and risk analytics dashboard

The RMA software has a built-in analytics dashboard that clearly outlines the return patterns and their impact on the business. Heatmaps visualized returns across different categories such as products, sales channels, and distributor segments. Users can easily track high return areas and flag distributors with frequent return activity. That way, the company can easily detect misuse and performance issues.

The revenue widget on the dashboard shows the financial impact of returns on company profits. Leadership teams can generate reports on returns and revenue, and get insights on decision making and risk management.

Automated RMA Software

Impact of an efficient and scalable returns management process

Any number of transactions, orders, or returns, the system was built to efficiently process it all. The automated returns management system accelerated the process and faster refunds reduced support tickets and improved customer satisfaction.

Distributors could track their inventory using a replicated website with built-in inventory management which made it easier to track products that are running low on stock or nearing expiry. Commissions were accurately disbursed through clawbacks and reversals without hurting distributor sentiments.

The company’s leadership teams gained direct insights into the revenue impact caused by returns and refunds with heatmaps highlighting the high-return areas and return-prone distributors. The analytics dashboard was accurate in detecting return patterns and predicting future return trends which helped the company in decision making.

The Returns Management Software enhanced the overall operational efficiency of the skincare MLM company with automation and features that served as complementary solutions to their order management challenges.

Scalable returns

Development and implementation challenges

The return process was initiated by customers, distributors, customer support teams, and warehouse staff. Coordinating everyone in a single workflow was a bit difficult. The centralized RMA workflow was developed to connect everyone through role-based dashboards to improve visibility and streamlined communication.

Staying compliant with the return policies and regulatory requirements of different regions was important for the goodwill of the company. Hence we included configurable return rules using which the company can configure return policies for each market based aligned with the regional regulations.

All returned products have to be updated in the inventory in real-time and manual process was inefficient to handle this. The automated inventory management system updated stock after every product return were inspected and approved for restocking.

Distributors were managing return requests through informal communication channels manually. This caused several returns not being recorded and inconsistencies in stock levels. Training distributors on the new system to initiate returns and manage stock levels was necessary and an immediate requirement. The distributor dashboard with onboarding support made the adoption of RMA system easier and faster.

Expected Results


Reduction in return processing time

Reduction in return processing time

60%

Reduction in customer support tickets

Reduction in customer support tickets

35%

Improvement in refund processing speed

Improvement in refund processing speed

48%

Improved inventory recovery from returned products

Improved inventory recovery from returned products

28%

Increase in customer satisfaction rate

Increase in customer satisfaction rate

42%

Improvement in return request tracking transparency

Improvement in return request tracking transparency

72%

Reduction in return processing time

Reduction in return processing time

60%

Reduction in customer support tickets

Reduction in customer support tickets

35%

Improvement in refund processing speed

Improvement in refund processing speed

48%

Improved inventory recovery from returned products

Improved inventory recovery from returned products

28%

Increase in customer satisfaction rate

Increase in customer satisfaction rate

42%

Improvement in return request tracking transparency

Improvement in return request tracking transparency

72%

Optimize returns, payouts, and customer experience with a custom RMA platform.

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