Reinventing E-commerce Returns with Agentic AI
Cloudaeon’s agentic AI automated 65% of return workflows, cut resolution time from 10+ days to 3 and reduced fraudulent returns by 25%.
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Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry's standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged.
A leading e-commerce retailer, grappling with the complexities of its reverse logistics, faced mounting difficulties with its e-commerce returns management process. With returns accounting for one in five orders, the issue directly impacts customer satisfaction and brand trust. The retailer required a scalable, AI-powered system that could simplify returns from start to end reducing fraud and provide a consistent customer experience.
Challenges
The retailer was grappling with a complex set of internal and external obstacles that were compromising its brand reputation and bottom line.
Customer friction: Customers had to navigate a long process to initiate a return which involved lengthy forms, emails along with extended wait times at call centres. The varying return policies across different product categories (e.g., fashion vs. electronics) added to customer frustration, highlighting the need for automating the return process.
Operational inefficiency: Manual processes caused major inefficiencies in e-commerce returns logistics. Customer care representatives had to manually validate orders, apply policies and update records. This process was slow and error prone. Lack of coordination among customer service, logistics, warehouses and finance teams frequently extended the resolution period to more than 10 days.
Fraudulent behaviour: The retailer saw a rise in fraudulent returns, including empty boxes and swapped products, as well as the repeated abuse of "free returns." Manual fraud checks were inconsistent and could not keep up with the volume of orders that cost the company millions annually. This demonstrated a critical gap in returns fraud prevention.
Solutions
To overcome the above challenges, Cloudaeon implemented an agentic AI-powered system designed to automate and optimise the entire return workflow. This multi-agent system leveraged AI orchestration to create a unified and intelligent automated returns management system including:
Customer interaction agent: A key component of the solution, provided a conversational interface on the website and mobile app. It guided customers step-by-step through the return process, acting as a form of AI customer service that could handle natural language queries like, "I want to return this jacket; it doesn’t fit."
Eligibility & decision agent: This agent verified whether items qualified for a return or replacement under a wide range of business rules. It dynamically determined the appropriate resolution (refund, replacement or store credit) and applied policy logic by flagging ambiguous cases for human review.
Order & logistics agent: This component synced updates between the CRM, warehouse and financial systems by controlling order status in real time. It also generated prepaid shipping labels or scheduled courier pickups, a crucial part of streamlining the reverse supply chain.
Fraud detection agent: This agent used anomaly detection models for AI for e-commerce fraud detection, flagging suspicious patterns such as repeated returns from the same account, mismatched serial numbers or the return of high-value items. It escalated these flagged cases for manual inspection before a refund was processed, significantly reducing fraudulent activity.
Impact
The implementation of this AI-powered workflow automation led to a dramatic and measurable transformation of the returns process, delivering significant value across the entire organisation and demonstrating how to improve the e-commerce return experience.
Customer experience: Return initiation time dropped from 15 minutes to less than 2 minutes and satisfaction with the process improved by 35%.
Improved efficiency: 65% of return workflows were automated reducing resolution time from 10+ days to just 3 to 4 days.
Fraud prevention: Fraudulent return attempts decreased by 25% saving millions annually and improving investigation efficiency.
Scalability & adaptability: The system managed 3x seasonal load without extra staff with policy changes instantly applied across all agents.
Strategic value: Returns shifted from a cost centre to a loyalty driver, while insights from returns data reduced product issues and future returns.
Conclusion
By orchestrating specialised AI agents across the return lifecycle, the retailer successfully turned e-commerce returns management from a source of friction to a strategic advantage. The automated method directly addressed the fundamental issues of customer dissatisfaction, operational inefficiencies and fraud. This not only resulted in immediate and measurable gains, but it also created a future-ready solution capable of adapting to changing business demands and processing millions of transactions with full automation. The retailer now uses this technique to develop trust, increase repeat business and preserve a competitive advantage.
Want to simplify returns and boost customer satisfaction? Submit your use case today and see how agentic AI can deliver results.
