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Overview

A Return Policy is issued by the company to define its business rules and policies associated to returning sold physical goods. The Return Policy determines when and which purchased physical goods can be returned and whether the customer is entitled to a refund.

Major features

  • A Return Policy is applied automatically on selling a physical good either directly from the company or through a partner and are only applied on traceable physical goods
  • Return Policy defines the date by which a return can be made and whether the customer is entitled to a refund
  • The Return Policy's rules are defined per traceable physical good and this information includes

Setting Up Return Policies

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Foundation > Return Policies > Set Up Return Policies

Return coverage reasons

'Return Coverage reasons' are user-defined and provide information associated to the return; for example, 'returned in good condition' 'damaged', 'cannot be resold'.  Once return coverage reasons are configured, they must be added to return policies to determine whether the return is refundable.

 A return coverage reason may refund the return of a physical good when selected for one return policy and not for another.

Return policies

Return Policies define if and when a customer is allowed to return purchased traceable physical goods. The most suitable (subject to conditions defined in the policy) is automatically applied when a good is sold,

A policy must have an 'Effective' life cycle state to be applied. The life cycle state of a policy can be toggled between 'Effective' and 'Not Effective' using a dedicated action. A policy can only be updated if its not effective or it has not yet been applied to a good.

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Return policy fields

The table describes the sections of Return Policy Data Entry page and explains how the fields in the page are used.

 Mandatory   Configurable

Main Information

Allowed Return Period: The eligible return period, configured in days, weeks, months or years.

Life Cycle State: 'Effective' or 'Not Effective'. A policy must be 'Effective' to be applied.

Company Responsibilities: The obligations of the retailer regarding the coverage of the physical goods by the return policy (free text area).

Customer Responsibilities: The obligations of the customer regarding the coverage of the physical goods by the return policy (free text area).

Validity

The period during which the return policy is available defined by a 'Valid from Date' and 'Valid to Date'
Valid from Date is always mandatory, while the Valid to Date can be left empty if the period is open-ended.

Coverage for Physical Goods

The physical goods that can be covered by the policy. Specific products, product types, product brands, or product families can be defined. Each policy must include at least one of the aforementioned categories. Only traceable physical goods can be specified.

Allowed Coverage Reasons

Coverage Reason: Select one of the available reasons from the drop-down list.

Credit: For each reason, enable to indicate that the item can be refunded.

Allowed Organisational Units

Define the communities, groups or units to which the user that sells or returns the physical good should belong to for the return policy to be applied on the physical good.

 

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Related configuration

The following mandatory modules are related to return policies and must be configured for the return policies module to operate at its full capacity.

Manual Link
Manual
Description
Configuration Type
Inventory ManagementInventory Management Definitions

Defines the warehouses where physical goods are stored before they are distributed or returned when added or swapped through jobs.

Mandatory

Applying Return Policy on selling physical goods

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Return Policies are applied automatically during the sale of a physical good which occurs through one of the following cases

  1. Sell a physical good through a Job of the following fulfillment scope
    1. Generic Purpose
    2. New Subscription
    3. Add Subscription Service
  2. Replace a physical good through a Job of the following classifications: Sell a physical good through Quick Pay
    1. Swap Subscription Installed Item
    2. Replace Physical Good
  3. Sell a physical good through one of the following subscription actions (only when sold through a partner)
    1. Add Installed Items
    2. Amend Services and Installed Items
    3. Swap Subscription Installed Items

The system determines the return policy that should be issued; if the good is eligible for more than one return policy, the policy with the most recent Valid from Date is applied and has priority over other 'Always Valid' policies. Additionally 

Preconditions
  1. The user selling the good must belong to an organizational unit added in the 'allowed organisational units' (AOU) of the return policy, or must be a super user, or the user's unit must collaborate with the AOU of the return policy.
  2. The return policy Have an 'Effective' life cycle state.
  3. Be valid when performing the sale
  4. Include the physical good, brand, type or family of the good that is being added, in the allowed physical goods.
Note
titleReturn Policies are not applied when
  • Providing installed items to customers through Rentals
  • On selling physical goods to partners



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Returning a physical good with a return policy

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Customers may request to return a physical good for various reasons (e.g., due to a technical issue or to upgrade it or because it was stolen). If the good has a valid return policy which has not expired yet, the system checks whether the return is refundable based on the return coverage reason set by the user. The return date must be equal or before the Warehouse Issue Date + the return allowed period. 

The return of physical goods can be done through:

  • Accounts Receivable (Managing Assets action)
  • Service Requests

To return the good
  1.  Access the 'Return Goods' screen Select the return coverage reason
    1. Service Requests:
      1. Create a Service Request
      2. Add the physical good in the Affected Products
      3. Save the Service Request
      4. Click on RETURN
    2. Accounts ReceIvable
      1. Manage Assets action
      2. Select the good to return
      3.  Actions > RETURN PHYSICAL GOODS
  2. SUBMIT the action 

 

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Viewing return policies applied on physical goods 

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To find out whether a physical good has a return policy applied, or to view historic data on warranties, refer to the Manage Installed Items Data Entry page.

 

  1. Navigate to Foundation > Inventory Management > Manage Installed Item.
  2. Under the Return Policy Section
    1. Return Policy:  Name of applied policy
    2. Return Policy Expiration Date
    3. Warehouse Issue Date: The day on which the good left the warehouse
  3. Change History
    1. Return Policy: Displayed if a return policy is applied
    2. Return Coverage Reason

Return Policies Analytics

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Dashboards 

Dashboards provide information regarding the key performance indicators of applied returns from a single integrated view. Dashboards are made up of components such as charts and summary tables. Refer to Dashboards for information on their use and set-up.

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Dashboard components

Returns per Coverage Reason and Month 

The component displays the returns that were initiated within the last 12 months grouped by return coverage reasons, in a stacked bar chart.  The results can be filtered by return coverage reasons and physical good.

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Business Examples

Creating a new Return Policy

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titleCreate a new Return Policy for physical goods

Business Requirement

Company ZX wants to create a 30 day Return Policy for its decoders sold to customers and apply coverage reasons for the decoders sold. The return policy should be applicable only if the decoders are not damaged.

Solution

Configuration

  • Configure a new return policy with validity of 30 days and allowed return period of 30 days.
  • Fill in the coverage reasons to why the return policy will be applicable and the decoder which the return policy is applied on.Fill in any further information required for the Return policy and Save
    • Returned with damages - Do not credit
    • Returned in good condition - Credit
    • Cannot be resold - Do not credit

Using the new created Return Policy

User:

  • A decoder is sold to a new subscriber and the return policy is applied (A warehouse for the decoder needs to be already setup). Refer to Inventory Management for further information on warehouses.

Customer:

  • Customer returns the decoder and the decoder is inspected for any physical damage.
  • User navigates to the Account Receivable profile of the customer and clicks on Manage Assets. Return Physical Goods action is created via the Actions.
  • A Return Coverage Reason is selected and the Return Policy is checked.
  • Accordingly the customer is either credited for not based on the physical condition of the decoder.



Note
titleNotes
  • If you are using a previous release, view CRM.COM Release Changes.
  • Use the WEB API to create and manage Return Policies from an external system, such as a customer portal. Refer to the Return Policies WEB API for a comprehensive list of available actions.

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Glossary  

CRM.COM TermDefinition
Physical GoodA tangible item that is provided to the customer, such as a camera, decoder or magazine (generally with exclusive ownership); can be traceable or non-traceable.
Installed Item / Traceable Physical GoodA physical good that can be traced through a unique identifier, usually a serial number.
WarehouseA location where physical goods are stored before they are distributed or returned.
JobA small project initiated by the operator for customers, involving the delivery and billing of services, products, and activities. Customer requests and orders, such as that for a new subscription, can be initiated and registered through a job.
Job Fulfillment ScopeAn indication of what the job (type) is trying to achieve, for example, create a new subscription, modify an existing one, or accomplish a general-purpose task.

 

 

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