A return is never a single step, it's a chain: the customer registers the return, receives a return number and a label, the goods arrive, get inspected, and only then is it clear whether a credit note, replacement, or exchange follows. NordFlux links these steps into a single process, from the incoming RMA request to the updated stock level. You keep control over every credit note that leaves the building.
A return costs you twice: once the lost sale, and once the handling. The second cost shows up in no report, because every return starts as its own email thread, and ends there too.
Five building blocks from the returns process that run by hand in almost every trading and shipping business. They decide where we start.
Every return request from email, customer portal, or shop is created as a return case, linked to the original order, the item, and the return reason. The customer automatically receives a return number and a return slip or label, so the parcel can be matched immediately on arrival. Unclear cases go to an employee for review instead of sitting untouched.
Savings 5–10 min per returnWhen the parcel arrives, it's matched to the open case via the return number, and the condition of the goods is recorded: as new, used, damaged. This inspection step, not just the customer's announcement, decides what happens next. That way, no refund goes out before the goods have actually arrived and been checked.
Impact no money back without inspected goodsWhether a case results in a credit note, a refund to the original payment method, a replacement delivery, or an exchange depends on the condition of the goods, the reason, and the customer. We set up your rule and let the case decide automatically up to a value threshold; above that, it goes to a person for approval. The credit note is created as a draft in your inventory or accounting system and is only sent after you click to approve it.
Savings 1–3 h per weekAfter inspection, the goods have to go somewhere: back into stock as sellable inventory, into the B-grade channel, or into write-off. We book the stock to the right account automatically depending on condition, and update the available quantity in the shop and inventory system. That way you never sell an item twice, and never write off one that's still A-grade.
Impact stock stays correct without manual rebookingBecause every case carries a return reason and a link to the item, you can count what nobody else counts: return rate per item, most common reason per product group, return costs per month. If the rate for an item rises above your threshold, the system flags it on its own. That's the number you use to decide on product descriptions, size charts, or suppliers.
Impact return reasons become a metricReturn data rarely lives in one place: part in the shop, part in the inventory system, the rest in the inbox. We choose from n8n, Power Automate, and AI support based on the use case, not to sell you a favorite tool.
Flexible & self-hostedn8n connects shop, inventory management, warehouse, and accounting via interfaces and keeps the return case in sync across all systems. On request, hosted on a server in Germany, so customer and order data never leave your premises.
Microsoft 365If your process runs through Outlook, SharePoint lists, and Excel, Power Automate is usually the shortest path. Refunds above a value threshold become approval tasks with reminders. The base license for standard connectors is often already included in your Microsoft 365 plan; Microsoft bills premium connectors separately.
Customers write their return reason as free text, not in form fields. An AI agent reads the email, identifies item, order, and reason, and assigns the return to the right category. Your team confirms the suggestion, not the model.
From the free initial analysis to a running returns process in 30 days, at a fixed price instead of an open-ended timesheet.
In 60 minutes we go through your recent returns and look at where the time goes: capture, matching, inspection, or refund. Afterward it's clear which building block saves money first.
We write down which return reasons you use, from which value threshold who decides on the refund, and how inspected goods are booked. This part is manual work, because without clean categories there is no reliable return rate later on.
We build the process and first run it in parallel with your current approach. That way you see, on real returns, whether matching and refunds are correct before anything is switched over.
You get the documentation, a walkthrough, and a fixed point of contact. You reach Simon directly, with no ticket system and no account manager in between.
Returns management covers product returns, regardless of whether anything is wrong with the goods. If in your case the defect itself is the problem, meaning complaints, root-cause analysis, and 8D reports, complaints management is the better starting point.
In 60 minutes we go through your recent returns and add up the effort honestly, once. Free, no obligation, and if automation isn't worth it, we'll tell you that too.
Returns management governs the return of goods, complaints management governs the defect. A return can have any reason: wrong size, don't like it, withdrawal, and the goods are often in perfect condition. A complaint is always about a fault and needs root-cause analysis rather than just processing a return. In practice the two overlap when a defective product comes back, so we build the processes so that such a case can be handed over cleanly from the return process into the complaints process.
In most cases, yes. If your shop or inventory system has an interface, we connect to it directly, for example with n8n or Power Automate, and keep return status and stock in sync. If there's no interface, we clarify in the initial analysis whether an interim path via email, file export, or interface automation on the screen works. Which path fits depends on your systems, not on one fixed favorite tool.
Yes, the deadlines can be stored as a rule. For distance selling to consumers, the withdrawal period under Section 355(2) of the German Civil Code (BGB) is generally 14 days, provided the customer was properly informed of their right of withdrawal. The system can track the deadline per case and treat a withdrawal differently from a voluntarily granted return, for example when it comes to refunding shipping costs. This does not replace legal advice, but it ensures that time-bound cases don't get lost.
Yes, you set the rules and approve every payout. Up to a value threshold you define, an inspected return can automatically turn into a credit note; above that, the case goes to a person for approval. The credit note is always created as a draft first; it is only sent or paid out after your click. Every step is logged, and the automation can be paused at any time.
We work at a fixed price, set after the free initial analysis, not on an open timesheet. The first productive building block usually goes live within 30 days, most often capture and matching, because that's where the effort drops fastest. Pinning down the return reasons costs the most of your time, because without clean categories there is no reliable return rate later on.
