LiquiDonate

An international candle brand with a single U.S. warehouse encountered significant challenges in managing customer returns. Particularly, shipping costs were exceedingly high for heavy items and orders involving multiple boxes, accentuating the complexity of logistics. Compounding these issues, the brand lacked a well-defined returns strategy and failed to address fraud effectively, prompting a need for an innovative approach to not only reduce expenses but also to simplify the logistics and lessen its environmental footprint.

The task at hand was to devise a strategic solution that could overhaul the cumbersome returns process. The brand sought to find a method that not only minimized logistical costs and distances but also generated a positive impact on the community. Creating an effective returns process was critical. This endeavor needed to be accessible even without previous knowledge or strategies, emphasizing ease of implementation to transform an unstructured process into a seamless and impactful operation.

LiquiDonate employed a donation-matching platform to revolutionize the brand's returns process. Instead of items being shipped back to the central warehouse, returns were redirected to nearby nonprofits. This strategic pivot significantly decreased shipping distances and resource usage. Heavy-time items and multi-box sets were handled locally, cutting down traditional reverse logistics costs. The platform enabled the brand to build a beneficial network with nonprofits, turning potential waste into community resources.

The implementation of the donation-matching platform yielded impressive outcomes. Successfully, 95 matches were facilitated, with 90 of these cases resulting in reduced shipping distances compared to returning products to the warehouse. In 54 matches, the shipping distance decreased by over 90%, demonstrating a significant environmental and logistical improvement. This strategy notably optimized logistics for bulky items. Additionally, products received a second life, supporting nonprofits and supplying community benefits in alignment with the brand’s sustainability goals.