How NATURANA transformed their returns process with 8returns

With over a century of innovation behind it, NATURANA has grown from a corsetry pioneer founded in 1917 into an international lingerie brand distributed in more than 40 countries. Known for breaking conventions - such as introducing hooks instead of laces in early corsets and later bringing elastane and pre-shaped cups to the German lingerie market - the company continues to evolve with the times.

In recent years, NATURANA has expanded into e-commerce under the leadership of Karin Lindenau, Director of Digital Business & E-Commerce. Her priority: building a digital business that balances smooth operations, customer satisfaction, automation, and environmental responsibility.

To meet these objectives within their returns operations, NATURANA partnered with 8returns - a move that, according to Karin, has delivered measurable benefits for customers, internal teams, and sustainability.

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Challenge: A manual, inefficient, and non-transparent returns process

Before switching to 8returns, NATURANA already had a returns solution in place - but it presented significant operational and customer experience challenges.

A process filled with manual steps and friction:

As Karin describes, “Of course, we had a returns solution in place before. But the entire process was far from ideal and not fully automated. As a business, we lacked transparency into the reasons for returns, and for our customers, the experience wasn’t exactly user-friendly.”

Customers had to navigate a multistep, inconsistent workflow:

• Click a link received by email
• Re-enter their address on the DHL website
• Wait for another email
• Print a return label at home

This process not only created friction but also discouraged customers from returning to the online shop.

Technical issues frequently compounded the problem:

“In such cases, customers would either email customer service out of frustration - creating more workload and frustration - or simply give up, keep the product, leave a bad review, and never shop with us again.”

Minimal insights due to generic return reasons

Another major limitation was the lack of data granularity:

“Before switching, customers could only provide a return reason for the entire order, not for individual items. That left us with very little internal data to learn from.”

Without item-level insights:

• Customer support lacked context to resolve cases effectively
• Product designers received no actionable feedback
• avoidable returns continued due to unclear fit or product issues

Solution: An automated, customer-centric returns portal powered by 8returns

Transitioning to the 8returns platform enabled NATURANA to replace its fragmented workflow with a seamless, automated returns experience fully integrated with DHL and Shopify.

A modern, self-service return experience

Karin explains, “Now, when a customer wants to return an order, they simply log in to our returns portal, select the items they want to send back, and the system automatically generates a return label using data from DHL and Shopify.”

This streamlined process eliminates the friction of additional emails or manual data entry. With QR-code–based returns, customers can complete the entire process digitally and have their label printed at the post office - no home printing required.

Impact: Higher service quality, operational efficiency and actionable insights

1. A better customer experience with reduced operational effort

The new automated workflow significantly reduces customer support volume and improves service quality:

“After the return label is automatically created, the customer receives a QR code on their phone… So thanks to paperless DHL returns and our personalized 8returns portal, our customers experience fewer support interactions and much higher service quality.”

The environmental benefits are equally notable: label printers used by shipping providers consume less energy and materials than home printing, and the label size itself is far smaller.

2. Fewer bad purchases through better product recommendations

With 8returns, NATURANA now captures item-specific return reasons—unlocking insights that were previously unavailable.

Karin highlights, “Our new portal allows customers to specify the reason for returning each individual item… That’s incredibly valuable for our product development and returns management.”

These insights feed directly into more accurate product descriptions, enabling customers to make better buying decisions. The result: fewer mis-purchases, fewer returns, and happier customers.

3. Sustainability through smarter returns management

By reducing unnecessary returns and eliminating paper-based processes, NATURANA can pursue sustainability targets more effectively - while also strengthening customer trust.

In Karin’s view, smarter return management benefits every stakeholder:

• Customers: who enjoy a fast, frictionless return experience
• The business: which saves time, reduces manual effort, and improves product development
• The planet: through more conscious resource usage and fewer unnecessary shipments

By adopting 8returns, NATURANA has transformed a previously manual and opaque process into a modern, efficient, and data-driven returns workflow. The partnership supports the company’s long-standing commitment to innovation - delivering measurable improvements in customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and environmental impact.

For e-commerce businesses looking to scale sustainably, NATURANA’s experience proves that smart returns management isn’t just a backend process - it’s a strategic advantage.