Waldor & Co keeps 40% of returned revenue

Two days a week spent on managing returns

Waldor & Co sells watches and jewellery worldwide.

Returns negatively affect the bottom line. The brand measures marketing spend after refunds, so fewer refunds means more budget for growth.

"When I started here, we basically had no return process. We sent customers a note with our address and said: ship it here," says Maja, Head of Operations.

International parcels got stuck at post offices and were sent back. The customer still got refunded.

A returns portal came in 2020. Six years later it looked the same, and every refund was still calculated by hand. "That was two days of work every week."

Customs without the paperwork

2026 was a year of change for Waldor & Co. New warehouse, new carriers, then a new returns platform.

"It was scary with all the customs documents and our special setups," says Maja. "It's always a bit risky to change a process that works okay."

Since the US removed de minimis, every cross-border return needs the right documents and export tracking numbers. Otherwise it gets stuck in customs.

Customers used to print three copies of a commercial invoice. One for the carrier, one on the parcel. Now it's all electronic. The customer drops off the parcel, and that's it.

One part of the customs setup was missing just before go-live. Returnflows fixed it before launch. "You can tell they're experienced with a lot of carriers and customs procedures."

Exchanges without the email thread

Waldor & Co sells the same watch in up to four dial colours. In the old portal, customers typed their exchange wish in a text field and rarely said which one.

So the team emailed them, waited for a reply and created the exchange order by hand.

Now customers pick the exact variant in the exchange shop and can add more to the order. The new item ships as soon as the return is dropped off.

"The exchange shop is what blew my mind in the demo. Customers choose their exchange themselves, and they can shop more."

Around 40% of returned value now stays in the business as exchanges and gift cards.

Exchange orders go straight to Ongoing

Exchange orders are created in the WMS, not as unpaid orders in Shopify. Revenue figures in Shopify stay correct.

Refunds run on their own

The warehouse inspects and approves the return. The refund, minus any return fee, goes out automatically.