INTERSPORT Italia Cuts Down Product Returns by 12.5% with ParcelPanel

Business Profile

INTERSPORT Italia lives up to its mission of being the Heart of Sport by offering a wide range of high-quality, fairly priced sportswear and accessories. The company partners with more than 120 affiliates, operating as a purchasing group with exclusive access to merchandise from 80+  renowned brands, including Nike, Adidas, and Puma.

Brand: INTERSPORT Italia

Industry: Retail, Sports and Outdoors.

Platform: Shopify Plus

Country: Italy

Year Founded: 1997

Employees: 51-200

Usage: Since March 2024

The Challenge: Blurry Shipping Process Negatively Impacts Customer Experience

INTERSPORT Italia’s sales have increased steadily since its launch in 1997. But as this happened, INTERSPORT Italia was also faced with a thorny issue that threatened to soil the brand’s good name. 

Once customers paid for their orders, they began waiting for the package to be shipped and delivered home, but couldn’t easily track where the package was in real time.

What followed was a surge of “Where is my order?” tickets that put a strain on the customer support team. Because of the lack of shipping visibility, some customers would return the goods they bought as soon as they were sent out.

“The lack of real-time order tracking led to a rapid rise in WISMO tickets and, eventually, product returns, putting a strain on our customer support team and hurting our bottom line,” opines Antonella Martiniello, Marketing Manager at INTERSPORT Italia.

The brand’s primarily manual returns processing workflow also contributed to further customer dissatisfaction. Poor visibility, no updates on the status of their returns, and a long refund processing period of up to ten business days led to many WISMR tickets.

The Search: Brainstorming Solutions to Find the Right Fit

Towards the end of February 2024, INTERSPORT Italia began actively discussing how to improve its order tracking and returns processes.

Key priorities were reducing costs and improving customers’ post-purchase experience. Additionally, INTERSPORT Italia wanted a flexible return management system that would streamline return processing and reduce manual effort. The team also considered growing the company’s sales with the technology they will implement.

Most importantly, they wanted to reduce the number of WISMO and WISMR tickets its support personnel received.

The Solution: Matching Wishes to Features

After a process that lasted more than a week, the INTERSPORT Italia team eventually settled on a solution that matched what they sought. ParcelPanel Order Tracking and ParcelPanel Returns and Exchanges apps on Shopify seamlessly fit the features the sportswear retailer was looking for and were cost-effective.

Aside from these two reasons, they also guaranteed the following:

Return Management

The ParcelPanel Returns came with a centralized dashboard that allowed the INTERSPORT Italia team to streamline returns management, including dealing with the return and process status, and ensuring that no customer return request was left behind.

Embedded Return Page

A branded self-service return portal went live on the INTERSPORT Italia website, allowing customers to conveniently initiate returns in clear steps without contacting the support team and encouraging exchanges. 

Smart Auto-Approval for Return Requests

One of INTERSPORT Italia’s top goals was optimizing the returns workflow. Thanks to ParcelPanel’s solution, the brand applied the automated request and exchange approvals, reducing manual work and speeding up the approval process.

Automated Returns Notifications

Whereas previously, the customers would be kept in the dark, ParcelPanel automatic notifications allowed INTERSPORT Italia to send customers prompt updates on their returns. These included confirmation of received return requests, approvals, refunds, and exchanges. As such, the process became more transparent and helped to reduce return-related queries

Order Tracking Page

A branded tracking page on the company’s website allowed customers to track their packages. This helped them know when to expect delivery.

Automated Shipping Notifications

The ParcelPanel Order Tracking app also features automated shipping notifications that would help INTERSPORT keep customers informed at every stage with shipment confirmations, in-transit updates, and delivery alerts.

Marketing Channels

Having identified sales growth as a key objective, the INTERSPORT Italia team chose ParcelPanel. Its solution enabled them to access additional marketing channels, including a branded tracking page and email notifications for upselling customers.

When tracking their orders, customers would get recommendations for products that matched their taste and recent purchases. Similarly, email notifications featured suggestions based on their interests.

ParcelPanel provided INTERSPORT Italia with 24/7 technical support during the app installation period, ensuring a smooth setup after product testing.

The Results: Return-Related Inquiries Decrease as Upsell Revenue Improves More than a Third

“Our post-purchase processes improved in more ways than we previously anticipated. From return rate and related inquiries dropping to an increase in upsell revenue, ParcelPanel proved within a few months that it was the best solution for us,” shared Antonella Martiniello, INTERSPORT Italia’s Marketing Manager.

Indeed, numbers don’t lie, as INTERSPORT Italia was to experienced after partnering with ParcelPanel.

Return Rate Dropped by 12.5%

With ParcelPanel’s help, INTERSPORT Italia analyzed customers’ reasons for returns, identifying and addressing common issues, which led to a 12.5% drop in product returns.

Return-Related Inquiries Decreased by 43%

ParcelPanel’s self-service returns portal and email notifications features gave customer autonomy to track their returns from a trusted place on the INTERSPORT Italia website. With just a few clicks, customers could know the progress of their returns without contacting support, resulting in a 43% drop in WISMR inquiries.

WISMO Tickets Dropped by 68%

Using the ParcelPanel order tracking solution, INTERSPORT Italia kept its customers informed about the progress of their packages as they shipped to them. Notifications were sent via email, and customers could now track orders by themselves on the retailer’s website, resulting in a 68% drop in WISMO tickets.

Upsell Revenue Increased by 34.6%

The newly added branded tracking page encouraged more customers to return to the INTERSPORT Italia website, where they interacted with strategically placed product recommendations. Through this, upsell revenue grew 34.6%.

50+% Reduction in Human Effort Used in Return Processing 

The order tracking page, streamlined returns management, auto-approve workflows, and real-time notifications eliminated the need for extensive manual effort. In the process, INTERSPORT Italia reduced human effort in returns processing by more than half, leading to a better customer experience and resource reallocation.

The Future: Prioritizing Customer Post-Purchase Experience While Growing

INTERSPORT Italia’s vision for the future is to grow more and serve its domestic market better. The customer post-purchase experience is central to this ambition as the company seeks ways to attract new customers and gain their loyalty while keeping existing ones happy. ParcelPanel will continue to play a key role in streamlining order tracking and returns management to help INTERSPORT Italia achieve its goals.

Antonella Martiniello, INTERSPORT Italia’s Marketing Manager, affirms, “The future is bright for us and our customers. We’ve seen the impact of streamlining order tracking and returns management. Our key objective is doubling down on this to spur more brand growth with ParcelPanel by our side.”