6 NOVEMBER 2026 · 14:00 GST · 5 MIN READ · DUBAI CAREER NOTES

How to reduce e-commerce returns in the UAE: the Reason, Route, Recover rule

By Prudhvi Polavarapu, supply chain and e-commerce operations leader in Dubai

If you want to reduce e-commerce returns in the UAE, start by accepting that a return is not a failure at the door, it is a message about something that went wrong days earlier. Most online stores treat returns as a cost to absorb, when they are the cheapest source of operational truth you will ever get.

The pile in the corner of the warehouse

In every warehouse I have run, there was a corner where returned parcels waited. At Namshi volumes, with around 500K same-day shipments a year, that corner was never empty. One quiet afternoon I stopped looking at it as a pile and started sorting it by reason, not by date. Within an hour a pattern appeared: a handful of products accounted for a large share of what came back, and the cause was rarely the product itself. It was a size chart that confused people, a photo that looked different from the item, or a parcel that arrived a day after the customer's plans had changed.

Nobody had decided those returns would happen. They had simply never been read.

What is the e-commerce returns process, step by step?

A returns process is the path a parcel takes from a customer's request to a final outcome: back on the shelf, repaired, sent to the supplier, or written off. In practice it has six stops: request, approval, pickup or drop-off, receipt at the warehouse, inspection, and decision. Money moves at the end, which is why refunds feel slow when any earlier stop is slow.

Most of the delay hides at two stops. Pickup waits for a driver slot, and receipt waits for someone to open the box. Time a handful of returns from request to restock and you will see exactly where the days go.

The Reason, Route, Recover rule

I manage returns with three words, and every supervisor on the floor can repeat them.

Reason. Capture one reason code at the moment of return, picked from a short list: wrong size, not as described, damaged in transit, late delivery, changed mind, defective. Keep it to six or seven codes. Free text feels richer but produces nothing you can count.

Route. Decide the destination at the receiving desk, not later. Good condition goes straight back to sellable stock. Needs repackaging goes to a fixed bench with a time limit. Defective goes to the supplier claim shelf. Anything without a clear route is what turns a returns corner into a graveyard.

Recover. Put value back as fast as possible. Sellable stock must be re-shelved and visible in the system the same day, or you will show a customer "out of stock" on an item sitting in a tote. Refunds follow the inspection result promptly, because a customer who waits for money rarely orders again.

A return you only count is a cost. A return you read becomes next month's fix.

Why do online returns happen so often, and which ones can you prevent?

From my experience, preventable returns fall into three groups. Expectation gaps come from sizes, colours, dimensions and descriptions that do not match what arrives. Delivery gaps come from late or failed attempts, where the customer no longer wants the item by the time it comes. Handling gaps come from damage or wrong items caused by picking and packing errors inside your own building.

The second and third groups are yours to fix completely. Packing standards, a second check on high-value orders, and a firm delivery promise that the operation can actually keep remove a surprising share of returns without touching marketing. Accurate stock records help too, since wrong-item picks often begin with wrong locations, which is why I keep coming back to cycle counts and inventory accuracy.

The first group needs product pages that tell the truth. Measure your own best-selling items, state the model's size, and show the item in daylight. Every honest detail you add costs nothing and takes a return off the table.

How do cash on delivery orders change returns?

Returns on COD orders carry one extra step: the cash. If a customer refuses a parcel at the door, the driver returns with the parcel and no money, and the record must show exactly that. If a customer accepts it and returns it later, a refund has to travel back through a different channel. Both cases need clean order status, which is the same discipline described in my note on cash on delivery reconciliation. A return logged against the wrong driver sheet is one of the commonest reasons a COD day fails to close.

Staying inside the rules

Customer rights on online purchases in the UAE can depend on the type of seller, the product and the circumstances, so I do not quote windows or conditions here. The government's page on eCommerce on u.ae is the place to check current requirements, and your legal adviser can confirm what applies to your licence. Whatever your policy says, publish it plainly and follow it every time. A clear return policy is also one of the best conversion tools a young store has.

The customer who sends something back is still talking to you. Read what they are saying, and the returns corner will shrink on its own.