How Plutosport reduced customer inquiries by 80% and increased exchanges by 25%

Plutosport is the largest online sports and lifestyle store in the Netherlands. Founded in 2005 and operating as an online retailer since 2010, they offer the best deals on sports and lifestyle products, from clothing and footwear to accessories for women, men, and children. Their collection now includes over 200 top brands and more than 22,000 products, all at remarkably competitive prices.

The Plutosport team is young, energetic, and quick to respond to market demand. Their purchasing team travels throughout Europe to source the best collections, and their high level of service ensures that most products are in stock and ready for next-day delivery.

While Plutosport's sales were flourishing, there was significant room for improvement in the returns process. A major challenge was the overwhelming number of customer inquiries resulting from a confusing returns system.

We spoke with Henriette van Dam - Janssens, Senior Team Lead Customer Service at Plutosport, about how their partnership with Returnista came to be.

A key issue was that Plutosport did not include a return label with their orders. Customers had to keep the original shipping packaging to return items, which was often impossible as many discarded the packaging. Henriette explains:
"We used to advise customers to order multiple sizes because exchanges weren't possible. This meant customers had to place a new order for the correct size and then initiate a return for the unwanted item. This caused a lot of confusion and led to our customer service team working overtime to handle the influx of questions."

Plutosport wanted to solve these problems and improve the customer experience. They quickly found a solution in Returnista.

The first step was to simplify and encourage exchanges. Customers now have fewer reasons to contact customer service regarding issues like the wrong size. This change not only retains revenue that would otherwise be lost but also improves the overall customer experience.

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Within a few days of implementing Returnista, Plutosport saw positive results. Thanks to the clearer returns process, customers needed to contact customer service less frequently. Henriette shares:
"I was initially skeptical about how much easier it would be, but within a few days, we saw an 80% decrease in the number of customer calls. We really felt the difference." Thanks to this time-saving benefit, the customer service team can help other customers faster, further improving the overall experience. Moreover, Plutosport now sees 25% more exchanges every month, which helps retain a significant portion of revenue.

Following these initial successes, Plutosport is exploring further improvements to the returns process. Reducing the overall return rate is a key focus area.

They are currently working on a business case to optimize partnerships with service points where customers drop off return packages. Improving these touchpoints with external partners ensures a smoother experience for customers.

Exchanges have also opened up opportunities to collect valuable return data. Plutosport now has better insight into why certain products are returned frequently. Henriette explains:
"When customers consistently report that a specific item fits differently, we can respond by updating the product information to set clearer expectations."

With these insights from the Returnista platform, Plutosport can actively prevent returns while simultaneously improving the customer journey.

Looking to the future, Plutosport is excited to continue working with Returnista to take even greater steps in optimizing their returns process.

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