> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.tryoto.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Return Management

> Handle returns the way you handle orders: a request from the customer or your team, a return shipment, receipt and inspection, and a refund decision.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **Where to find it:** Main → Shipping → Returns — [Open in OTO ↗](https://app.tryoto.com/returns)

A return is a second order running backwards, and it is the one nobody designs for. This module gives it the same machinery the outbound order gets — a request, a shipment, a receipt, an inspection and a decision, each recorded.

## The problem it solves

The cost of a return is rarely the refund. It is the handling: someone answering an email, someone booking a collection, a parcel arriving at a warehouse with no paperwork, a box that sits on a bench for a week because nobody knows whether it was approved, and a customer who has neither their money nor their item and is now telling people about it.

Underneath that is an uncertainty problem. Until someone physically opens the box, you do not know what came back, in what condition, or whether the refund you already promised was the right one. Every step that happens before that moment is a guess, and every guess that turns out wrong costs money twice.

## Two ways a return starts

| Route | Who begins it | When it suits |
| - | - | - |
| **The return portal** | The customer, on a branded page of yours. | Normal volume. It is self-service, it captures the reason and the photos up front, and it never reaches your inbox. |
| **The dashboard** | You, on a delivered order. | When a customer has reached you another way — a call, a shop floor, a message — and you are raising it on their behalf. |

Both land in the same place: the **Returns** screen, as a request with its own identifier. A return carries the order number with a return suffix — **OID-10288-10120-R1** — so a second return against the same order is distinguishable from the first.

> [!NOTE]
>
> **A failed delivery is not this**
>
> An undelivered parcel coming back to you is a **return to origin**, and it travels a different path — see [Returns receiving](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/returns-receiving.md). The returns covered here are the ones a customer asks for, on an order they already have.
>
> Keeping the two separate matters: they have different causes, different costs and different fixes. Counting them together hides both.

## The lifecycle

![A return moves from request through approval, reverse shipment, receiving, inspection and refund](https://mintcdn.com/oto/i18iHWUj0UsU2Wev/images/diagram-returns-overview-light.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=i18iHWUj0UsU2Wev\&q=85\&s=95fc5b0b633b7abbfa2df5724cd82f18)

The order of these is the point. Refunding before confirming is the most common and most expensive way to run returns.

> [!TIP]
>
> **Refund last, deliberately**
>
> It is tempting to refund on approval, because it feels generous and it closes the conversation. It also means refunding items that never arrive, arrive broken, or arrive as something else entirely — and recovering that money afterwards is close to impossible.
>
> Putting confirmation before the refund costs the customer a few days and costs you nothing. Where speed genuinely matters commercially, that is a decision to make per category, with the numbers in front of you, rather than a default.

## Where it lives

| Screen | Path | What it holds |
| - | - | - |
| **Returns** | **Shipping → Returns** | Four tabs: **In Progress · Returned · Completed · Rejected / Canceled**. |
| **Return Portal** | **Settings → Return Settings → Return Portal** | The customer-facing portal: policy, reasons, methods and branding. |
| **Return Automation** | **Settings → Return Settings → Return Automation** | Rules that decide what may be returned. |
| **Brands** | **Settings → Account → Brands** | The **Portal URL** and the **Return Policy URL**. |
| **Shipments** | **Shipping → Shipments → Delivered** | Where a return is raised on a customer’s behalf. |
| **OTO PACK** | **Menu → Return** in the app | Confirming what physically came back. |

![The Returns screen on the In Progress tab](https://mintcdn.com/oto/YkJay8Y-1RDv8ciw/images/ret-1-returns.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=YkJay8Y-1RDv8ciw\&q=85\&s=3e611db2fa1ff0522d163d236195900d)

Fig. 1 — Status tracks where the return itself has got to; Return Approval is a separate column, because a return can be approved and still be at the very start of its journey.

## Who runs it

| Role | What they do here |
| - | - |
| **Customer service** | Approves and rejects, raises returns on behalf of customers, answers where-is-my-refund. |
| **Warehouse** | Receives the parcel, scans what is in it, confirms quantities. |
| **Finance** | Owns the refund decision and the credit memo that follows it. |
| **Merchandising** | Reads return reasons by product, which is where the money actually is. |

## Functions in this module

> **[Customer returns](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/customer-returns.md)**
>
> *4 features*

> **[Returns receiving](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/returns-receiving.md)**
>
> *5 features*

> **[Return automation](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/return-automation.md)**
>
> *3 features*

## What it connects to

* [Customer Notification](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/customer-notification/sms.md) — the three return messages and the portal link.
* [Inbound and putaway](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/warehouse-management/inbound-putaway.md) — the Return bin returned stock lands in.
* [Inventory tracking](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/inventory-management/inventory-tracking.md) — what a confirmed return puts back.
* [Shipping automation](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/shipping-management/shipping-automation.md) — choosing the carrier for the return leg.

## At a glance

| Function | Features |
| - | - |
| **[Customer returns](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/customer-returns.md)** | 4 |
| **[Returns receiving](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/returns-receiving.md)** | 5 |
| **[Return automation](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/return-management/return-automation.md)** | 3 |


## Related topics

- [Last-mile delivery in OTO FLEX](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/oto-flex/delivery.md)
- [What is OTO](https://docs.tryoto.com/get-started/what-is-oto.md)
- [Shipping Invoices Reconciliation](https://docs.tryoto.com/modules/shipping-management/shipping-invoices-reconciliation.md)


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