ecommerce and mobile ecommercemarketing
Turning Returns into Revenue: Louis Camassa on Data-Driven Strategies for Global eCommerce
1. How do you view the role of return behavior, such as “bracketing” or overbuying with plans to return, in shaping your inventory and marketing strategies?
Return behaviors serve as a valuable signal that reveals friction in areas like sizing, customer trust, and product detail accuracy. Rather than treating them as anomalies, we analyze these behaviors to refine listing content, improve fulfillment sourcing decisions, and adjust ad bids to align with expected net margin outcomes. Understanding why customers return helps us optimize across the full commerce lifecycle.
2. How has your organization’s perspective on product returns evolved, from a cost center to a strategic business lever?
We’ve shifted our view of returns from a cleanup task at the end of a transaction to a strategic feedback loop. Today, we treat returns as a lens into product performance, customer intent, and profitability. By analyzing return trends across marketplaces and regions, we uncover insights that inform everything from product improvements to channel-specific strategies, turning a historical pain point into a growth lever.
3. To what extent does your return policy adapt to regional preferences, such as shorter return windows in Europe versus North America?
Return policies aren’t something we control directly, nor do most of our clients. These policies are dictated by the marketplaces themselves, which set the rules based on local consumer expectations and regulatory standards. Our role is to adapt to those rules and support clients in meeting them efficiently.
4. What tools or analytics does your organization use to track and optimize the profitability impact of returns at the SKU level?
We measure SKU-level net margin after returns by overlaying refund rates with ad spend and COGS. This data gives us a clear view of product performance, highlighting high-risk SKUs and helping guide decisions around promotions, inventory planning, and product lifecycle management. It’s a precision approach to profitability rather than relying on broad assumptions.
5. What leadership priorities or cultural shifts are necessary to transform returns from a challenge into a competitive advantage?
The key shift is moving from a mindset of containment to one of curiosity. Leadership must prioritize embedding returns data into decision-making across product, customer experience, and operations. When returns are framed not as a cost center but as a source of insight, teams start to see them as a catalyst for better business outcomes.
6. How is your organization preparing to address the complexity of returns across multiple regions and product categories?
We’re building a foundation of standardized data, localized workflows, and returns automation to tackle the complexity of global returns. Our aim is to give clients the tools to manage returns effectively, reduce costs, and stay compliant with marketplace-specific rules. This approach supports scalability and resilience across diverse product types and geographies.
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