Signs Your Returns Process Is Hurting Customer Retention
By Christian Endresen <> January 2026.
4/5 won't return after a bad returns experience, making returns are a key part retention.
Great products and good customer service are no longer enough to keep customers loyal. The returns experience plays a major role in whether customers come back or leave for good.
A slow, unclear, or outdated returns process creates uncertainty. When customers don’t know where their return is or when they’ll get their refund, trust disappears fast. That friction doesn’t just hurt operations. It directly impacts retention.
Below are five clear signs your returns process may be pushing customers away, and how platforms like Float help fix them.
1. Your Returns Process Is Still Manual and Label-Based
Customers expect simple, digital returns with full visibility. If your process relies on paper labels, manual steps, or no tracking, customers feel out of control.
When shoppers can’t track a return, they start to worry about refunds. That anxiety leads to more support tickets, frustrated customers, and a damaged brand experience.
Even worse, if customers have to contact customer support to submit a return, they are already annoyed.
Why it mattes
Studies show that 92% of customers are more likely to shop again when returns are easy and transparent.
What to do
Move to a fully digital returns flow. With Float, customers can register their returns fully self-serve via a returns portal available 24/4. They can also track returns in real time and receive clear updates, reducing uncertainty and support pressure.
2. All Returns Are Sent to a Central Warehouse
Routing every return to a central warehouse, even when it’s unnecessary, increases costs and delays resolutions.
A damaged item might need repair, resale, or recycling. Sending it to the wrong location first adds handling, transport costs, and time.
What to do
Use intelligent return routing. Float helps direct items straight to repair hubs, refurbishment centers, or resale locations, reducing handling and speeding up outcomes.
Why it mattes
Studies show that 92% of customers are more likely to shop again when returns are easy and transparent.
3. International Returns Are Slow and Expensive
Global sales often come with inefficient cross-border returns and customs clearing. Shipping every international return back while manually handling customs clearing waste a ton of time internally and creates a slow and expensive process for the customer.
What to do
Use digital customs solutions such as UPS Paperless Trade which can be integrated through Float.
Alternatively, set up regional return hubs or consolidate international returns in bulk. Local processing lowers freight costs and speeds up refunds and exchanges.
4. You’re Ask Customers to Place New Orders to Exchange
Asking customers to place new orders to exchange is a very low converting method and not a smooth customer experience.
Why it mattes
Only 2-8% of customer manually create new orders if exchanges are not offered directly as part of the returns flow.
What to do
Implement a digitalt returns portal that can offer exchanges across products.
5. Claims Without Order Numbers or Outside Warranty Are Hard to Manage
Handling claims without order references or outside warranty periods often creates friction. Rigid processes frustrate customers, while flexible ones can disrupt internal systems.
Why it mattes
Returns and claims are trust moments. A poor experience pushes customers to competitors, while a smooth one strengthens loyalty.
What to do
Use a returns system that supports edge cases. Float enables compliant claim handling even without order numbers, while keeping workflows structured and efficient.
Conclusion
Your returns process is not just an operational function. It’s a key driver of customer loyalty and long-term revenue.
Fixing these five issues helps reduce churn, improve customer trust, and increase lifetime value. Brands that optimize returns consistently outperform those that treat them as a cost center.