Loop's Samir Kamnani on how optimising returns can unlock new revenue and strengthen customer loyalty

Loop helps brands and retailers simplify reverse logistics to increase revenue opportunities and build stronger customer loyalty.

In today’s highly competitive fashion market, the online experience is shaped by more than just the product and brand, as customers become increasingly discerning about operational performance. Yet while retailers focus on improving check-out and fulfilment services, the post-purchase experience remains a neglected area.

This ignores a wider cultural shift that sees many shoppers today intentionally sending items back. In fashion especially, returns have become a routine part of a consumer’s online shopping journey – and not an anomaly.

As Samir Kamnani, Senior International Programme Manager at Loop, explains, by disregarding a customer’s returns experience, brands miss out on the opportunity to gain valuable customer insights, create new revenue opportunities, and strengthen retention.

UK womenswear brand Oh Polly has seen the benefits of optimising its reverse logistics first-hand. Since implementing Loop in 2023, the brand has sharpened its competitive edge and generated a new revenue stream, recording a 156% boost in its net promoter score for its returns journey and reducing its cash refunds in the UK by 10%.

Loop is also helping brands address a growing but often overlooked issue: the rise of online shoplifting, otherwise known as returns fraud. By implementing both reactive and proactive solutions, Loop is helping companies to prevent fraud before it becomes a major loss driver.

In this interview, Samir discusses the cultural shift shaping consumer attitudes towards returns, the multitudes of opportunities brands can unlock by treating returns as a strategic priority rather than an afterthought, and what Loop has planned for the future.

Returns have become ubiquitous in the fashion industry. What has caused this shift?

As online shopping has become more common and we’ve moved away from seeing products in person, it has become harder at times to judge the size of an item or how something will fit. That has been a long-standing reason for sending something back.

Today, however, it has evolved beyond that. Returning items has become a more intentional behaviour, largely driven by the rise of ‘try before you buy’. Often it’s no longer a question of whether something will be returned, but rather how many items. So we have seen a broader cultural shift in how people like to shop.

I recently tried to exchange a pair of shoes but instead had to return and re-order them in a different size. It was a frustrating experience for me and I’m sure a hassle for the retailer. It made me wonder: why is it so difficult for fashion companies to implement effective return processes?

I think consumer expectations have evolved faster than the merchants' perceived need to build out the returns experience. It’s definitely the consumers that are driving the need for innovation in this space, because they see returns as a core part of their shopping journey. Yet retail remains heavily optimised for the sale, with returns often treated as more of an afterthought. In many cases, brands simply hope that customers won’t send anything back.

Reverse logistics systems today are also often very fragmented. You might have a warehouse management system, a customer service tool, a payments system handling refunds, and then the e-commerce platform. When it comes to cross-border returns, it gets even more complex. At Loop we focus on simplifying these processes by integrating with existing systems, helping brands streamline and automate much of their returns and operations workflow.

What is the industry mindset on returns today?

Maturity levels vary widely between different players. Some brands only start focusing on returns once it becomes a big problem, while others focus on building optimised systems from the outset.

In fashion especially, where return rates are typically higher and consumers have so much choice, it’s critical for brands to create a great returns experience for the customer.

So optimising returns processes can improve customer loyalty?

I think customer retention is becoming less of a product or marketing metric, and more of an operational one. Today’s shopper has more choice than ever, so while product, price point, community and the brand still matter, a poor operational experience can quickly persuade them to go elsewhere.

That’s why we concentrate on strengthening operational details, because we know that they build and drive loyalty. For example, a customer might have a favourite athleisure brand, but when they experience a poorly communicated shipping delay or realise there is an unexpected returns restriction, they might turn away from the brand. We’ve found that it’s these – what we like to call in-between moments – that increasingly determine loyalty.

Can you explain a bit more about these in-between operations and how they improve customer loyalty?

At Loop, we aim to build trust with consumers throughout their shopping journey. Our core product – the foundation the business was built on and the area that has seen significant growth – is our returns solution. But since then we’ve expanded, for example, into tracking products. We now provide proactive communications at different stages of the shopping journey. We’ve also recently introduced order editing, which allows customers self-serve correcting details like an address or canceling an order if they’ve made a mistake.

Beyond that, we focus on incentivising a product exchange. What we often see is that returns don't happen because someone dislikes the brand. Usually they've already bought into it and they like the product, but there is a fit issue or they need something slightly different. So instead of processing a simple refund, we try to help customers find a product that they will love by offering new options. We’ve found that this helps convert a one-off shopper into a lifelong fan.

This all sounds like a great opportunity. Why do so many retailers still view returns as a loss today? How do you coach businesses to shift their mindsets?

I think some brands worry that making returns easier will increase return rates. That concern is understandable, but it overlooks the fact that for so many, returns are already part of the shopping journey. In fact, making returns harder might actually be deterring people from shopping with you in the first place.

Interestingly, we also see regional differences in behaviour. In the UK, for example, exchange rates tend to be lower. I believe this reflects the fact that both consumers and retailers are more accustomed to refunds because of national consumer protection laws, which make refunds the default behaviour.

But what we have seen is that brands that shift towards exchanges see immediate results. Even converting just 1% of refunds into exchanges creates revenue that is kept within the business, and might even result in upsell opportunities that generate additional income. The impact of that trickles right down to the bottom line.

How do you use technology at Loop, for example to support an exchange?

We’ve recently built a proprietary AI model that is trained on data collected from around 5,000 brands of our partners globally, including around 300 in the UK. The model looks at order and returns data from across different product verticals, different-sized businesses and gross merchandise values — and it helps brands gain unprecedented insights into their operations, product and customer.

The AI can be used to recommend alternative products in an exchange scenario. If a customer gives a return reason such as the size or colour wasn’t right, the AI will automatically recommend suitable alternatives. If the reason is more general, such as 'I didn't like it’, then it can serve recommendations based on either the customer’s past behaviour or aggregated insights from similar shoppers. It can also surface completely new items from the brand’s catalogue, which is then an opportunity to upsell that consumer.

With all of this data that you're gathering from brands, what other insights can you provide?

We can help brands identify their most returned products and the most common return reasons, and we have previously been able to highlight product or manufacturing issues.

Aside from that, we also support retailers to better understand their shipping operations, for example by helping brands optimise depending on their priorities, whether that be implementing cost savings or optimising for the shipment of higher value items.

Can Loop help forecast returns?

Yes, we have developed AI-driven forecasting capabilities to predict return volumes. We have already started rolling this feature out with some of our higher volume brands, since they have enough data we can use as input and build a more reliable model from.

We are now focused on improving the accuracy and accessibility of the forecasting for all types of brands. The goal is to help them anticipate returns, plan more effectively, and ultimately shift more of that volume into exchanges rather than refunds.

Fraud has become a much more frequent occurrence for fashion companies. How does Loop help protect brands?

It’s important to distinguish between behaviours here. Buying two sizes of the same item because you know you'll return one is completely legitimate behaviour, even though it still incurs costs for the brand that it is expected to absorb. But there are ways that you can create strategic friction to discourage this kind of behaviour – for example by introducing a returns fee. One of our surveys actually confirmed that this is a very effective method.

But we also have instances where someone might try to return an item after wearing it out. In this case we can introduce verification methods such as inspecting the item at the warehouse before issuing the refund.

On the proactive side, our AI can identify behaviour patterns and flag anomalies early, helping brands prevent fraud from becoming a larger issue.

How is this different from illegal fraud?

Illegal fraud is more deliberate and gets into the realm of essentially shoplifting. It's when customers are actively trying to con the brand.

It includes things like returning empty boxes or boxes filled with cookies or rocks, manipulating shipping labels, or conducting credit card fraud – including the use of a stolen or invalid credit card to make purchases.

Are retailers aware of how much money they're losing out on this type of online shoplifting?

Brands might only see returns fraud every now and then, so it’s often underestimated. Sometimes they just write it off as a loss that they could not have prevented.

But it can very quickly and suddenly become a bigger problem, for example, when an organised fraud ring decides to attack your brand. Awareness of this is growing, but it is definitely still a newer challenge.

How do you balance a smooth customer experience with effective fraud prevention?

The key is that you don’t want to make everyone’s experience worse because of a small number of people who are taking advantage of a brand’s lenient returns policy, or some that are engaging in fraudulent behaviour. This is where we like to use our customisation engine to make sure a brand can tailor its approach without changing its underlying returns policy.

For example, a standard policy might apply across the board, but VIP customers could receive benefits like free returns or exchange incentives, while higher-risk behaviour can be flagged and managed differently.

Can you tell me more about how you are making the lives of your VIP customers better?

One example would be offering free returns. I think it’s a great perk to offer, especially as retailers have started introducing return fees. We also offer bonus credits for exchanges, which is where we prompt customers with a £10 voucher, or however much the business wants to offer, to spend towards an exchange – delivered via a discount code.

How do you adapt the platform for different brands?

We have a great onboarding team that supports platform integration and helps brands align their returns policies with best practice.

What can sometimes make the integration process more complex is ensuring compatibility with existing warehouses, inventory management and help desk systems. Connecting these seamlessly with Loop may require additional time, as the setup is tailored to each brand’s individual infrastructure. However, we are able to work with both large and small brands across all major e-commerce platforms, including Shopify.

Can you tell me more about the evolution of the business, and what you have planned for the future?

We launched in 2017 as a returns solution built for merchants on Shopify, but today we work across multiple e-commerce platforms, including Salesforce Commerce Cloud and BigCommerce, and we are really excited to keep growing this. We are also working to integrate Centra into our operations.

This year we’re also focused on continuing to develop our AI capabilities. While the core tools are already in place, the priority now is to make them more intelligent and to further automate processes that have traditionally required human involvement. This includes deploying AI agents within our platform that can review returns on behalf of brands, enabling teams to simply approve or reject recommendations. The broader objective is to enhance the intelligence of the platform, make better use of the data available to us, and ultimately simplify and streamline returns operations for brands.

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