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A returned product does not always need to become a refund, a write-off or a warehouse problem.
Patagonia decides what each item should become next: an exchange, a repair, a resale product or something entirely new.
Today:
We break down how Patagonia recovers value from returned products, show you how to stop high-risk Shopify orders before they ship and share a simple calculation that reveals when your bestseller will run out.
Today’s Deep Dive
How Patagonia Recovers Value From Products Customers Send Back
Returns are inevitable for any ecommerce brand.
And products come back for different reasons.
Some customers changed their minds. Some need another size. Some products are damaged. Others still work but are no longer wanted.
Patagonia does not force all of them through the same process.
Its reverse-logistics system begins by separating them into returns, exchanges, repairs and trade-ins.
It Creates a Different Entry Point for Each Problem
Patagonia’s Returns, Repairs & Exchanges page gives customers four clear routes:
Return the product
Exchange it
Repair it
Trade it in
The first operational lesson is simple:
Do not ask one returns process to solve four different problems.
Repairable Products Go Back Into Use
Patagonia’s live repair flow asks for the product type, repair type, damage details and location.
If the item cannot be repaired, the customer can ask Patagonia to return or recycle it.
Patagonia says repairs currently take up to ten weeks on average and generally require a $15 round-trip shipping charge.
The objective is to preserve the existing product before replacing it.
Functional Products Can Become Inventory Again
Patagonia’s Worn Wear program accepts eligible functional products in exchange for merchandise credit.
According to its current trade-in policy, accepted products must be clean, functional and in good condition.
Patagonia can then sell those products through its Worn Wear store.
A product one customer no longer wants becomes inventory for another customer.
Damaged Material Can Become a New Product
Some products are too damaged to repair or resell.
Patagonia’s ReCrafted program uses material recovered from old garments to create new pieces.
The process is explained in Patagonia’s ReCrafted story, and ReCrafted products remain visible in the Worn Wear store.
Screenshot 4: Capture a live ReCrafted product. Highlight that it is made from reclaimed Patagonia garments.
What to Copy
Create separate routes for products that come back:
Return: Can it be sold as new?
Exchange: Can the original sale be retained?
Repair: Can the product return to the customer?
Resale: Can it be sold as used or imperfect?
Repurpose: Can the product or its materials become something else?
Recycle: Is material recovery the final available option?
For every route, define:
Eligibility
Inspection criteria
Processing cost
Customer compensation
Final destination
Time to resolution
A returned product is not automatically a total loss.
Its condition should determine what happens next.
BFCM
What top advertisers are doing differently this Black Friday
Join ADWEEK on Sept 16 at 1:00 PM ET for a live session digging into how top brands and agencies are approaching Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This session features research from Tatari, the CTV advertising platform that surveyed marketers across the industry on timing, budget, and channel strategy.
Highlights from the survey:
• 50%+ of brands are launching holiday campaigns by October
• 6 in 10 brands are increasing BFCM budgets this year
In addition to the survey results, this session will feature specific takeaways from a marketing leader at MANSCAPED, breaking down their channel mix and approach. If you want the playbook before the season hits, now's the time to grab a seat.
The How-To
How to Stop High-Risk Orders Before They Ship
Shopify can automatically place high-risk orders on hold before your fulfillment team ships them
Step 1: Open Shopify Flow
From your Shopify admin, go to Apps → Shopify Flow.
Select Create workflow, then Browse templates.
Step 2: Choose the Correct Template
Search for Hold fulfillments based on risk level and install it.
Step 3: Review the Workflow
Confirm that the workflow:
Waits for Shopify’s risk analysis
Checks whether the order is high risk
Places the fulfillment on hold
Notifies your team for review
Step 4: Turn It OnStep 2: Choose the Correct Template
Search for Hold fulfillments based on risk level and install it.
The workflow should begin with Order risk analyzed, not Order created. Shopify needs time to complete its fraud analysis.
Click Turn on workflow.
The order remains in your admin, but your fulfillment team cannot ship it until someone reviews and releases the hold.
Do not automatically cancel every flagged order. A hold gives you time to check the billing details, IP address, AVS result and unusual purchasing activity before deciding what to do.
While You Were Building
In the Headlines
New analysis found median CPCs rose 15.8% for budget-limited tROAS campaigns following Google’s August update. Check whether your campaigns are limited by budget before assuming the recent increase in acquisition costs is seasonal.
The app shows international customers a guaranteed duty and tax amount before purchase, with FedEx covering eligible overages. If you sell internationally, compare abandonment and refund rates from surprise import charges against the app’s $99 monthly cost.
On Socials
The creative coverage point is strong. But Meta is not reliably moving each customer through a neat five-stage sequence. Build for every level of awareness because different customers enter with different levels of knowledge, not because the algorithm will serve the ads in order.
Agreed, with one condition: judge the offer on contribution margin, not conversion rate. An offer that produces more orders while destroying margin has not unlocked scale. The best offers increase what customers buy before giving anything away.
📦 Today’s Growth Rep: Calculate Stock Cover for One Bestseller
Choose your best-selling product and calculate how many days of inventory you have left.
Divide the units currently in stock by the average number sold each day.
If you have 300 units and sell 15 per day, you have 20 days of stock remaining.
Why this works:
Inventory counts tell you what you have
Stock cover tells you how long it will last
It gives you time to reorder before sales are interrupted
It can also reveal excess inventory tying up cash
Your rep:
Choose one bestseller
Find its current inventory
Calculate its average daily sales
Divide inventory by daily sales
Compare the result with your supplier’s lead time
Report “Stock Cover Checked.”
Knowing when you will run out is more useful than knowing how many units are sitting on the shelf.
Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads
Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.
The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.