Beauty Essentials from Berlin
2019 – the era of D2C brands, influencer marketing, and digital-first strategies. In the midst of this transformation, Kess was founded in Berlin: a decorative cosmetics brand that stands for vegan, cruelty-free products with high-quality ingredients. The focus: on-the-go cosmetics for uncomplicated looks.
"The products should be easy to use, multifunctional, and suitable for everyday life," sums up Kai-Oliver Henke, Director Operations. The idea resonates – today, 45 employees in Berlin are working on the brand's growth. Kess products are now available in the DACH region, Italy, and the Netherlands. The team is already preparing the expansion into new markets.
Lisa Denk, Customer Care Manager, is particularly motivated by the company's mission: "Even before I joined Kess, I was 100 percent behind the product. That makes it easy for me to contribute here."
But with growth came new challenges – especially in the area of returns. One thing was clear: The process had to match the brand experience. Kai-Oliver and Lisa tell us how they achieved exactly that with 8returns.
The Challenge: Time-Consuming Returns Management
As order volume increased, so did the number of customer inquiries about returns. The return process was completely manual through customer support back then – a process that quickly became too time-intensive and error-prone for the team.
"Customers had to write us an email and register the return. Our team then had various follow-up questions, for example, whether the product had already been used. Depending on the answer, we wrote back and forth a lot," says Lisa.
Individual goodwill solutions such as exchanges or refunds despite opened goods also required manual communication.
"As a cosmetics brand, our return rate is low, but it has always been our focus to avoid returns as much as possible and do the best for our customers and the environment," adds Kai-Oliver. "In our industry, it often happens that colors look different than expected, for example. Our service therefore goes so far that in certain cases we let customers keep the product and still send out a new variant.
We can't resell a used product. Therefore, it makes no ecological or economic sense to pay shipping costs. Customer satisfaction also suffers – customers get their money back, but still have the hassle of the return and no product in the end. That's not a nice experience with our brand. So we urgently needed a solution for our use cases."
The Transition: From Stopgap Solution to 8returns
Initially, Kess started with a simple stopgap solution – but personalization options were lacking. The requirements were clear: A returns portal that can automatically and efficiently implement the individual needs of the brand, as well as a seamless customer experience.
"There was no way around a specialized solution anymore. We wanted to enable our customers to help themselves while simultaneously reducing support tickets. With 8returns, we immediately had a good feeling – we didn't test any other tool," says Kai-Oliver.
The Implementation: Fast, Intuitive, Effective
The implementation went smoothly for the team:
"My colleague found the onboarding super intuitive, and I also get along perfectly well today without any technical knowledge. The support from the 8returns team was very helpful throughout the entire process. The team always had quick, qualified answers for us," reports Lisa.
Particularly positive: The deep integration with Shopify. In less than two hours, the software was ready for use.
Kess relies primarily on customization with 8returns. "It was important to us to design the process flexibly and adapt it to our needs," says Kai-Oliver. A good example is the Green Return: customers can keep a product they don't like and still receive a new variant.
Store credit is also well received by the target audience. Instead of a refund, customers receive a voucher that they can redeem directly in the shop. "Our repeat purchase rate is very high, so customers are using this option more and more. At the same time, we're reducing refunds, which is great," explains Kai-Oliver.
For products that require explanation, Kess has also set up specific return reasons that only appear for certain items. "The 8returns team supported us with practical tips here – the granularity of the settings is really helpful."
A central concern was also to keep the return rate stable. "A returns portal shouldn't lead to more returns, but make the process easier – we've achieved that."
The Result: Less Effort, Better Experience
50% time savings – that's the bottom line for returns processing.
"The entire process has become more efficient. Customers can help themselves, which reduces inquiries and relieves our team," says Lisa. Today, handling is simpler because everything is processed in one tool. "We can set up flexible rules in 8returns, automatically refund and close returns," says Lisa.
Another plus: Fewer refunds. Lisa emphasizes the importance of store credit and exchanges: "These options can be integrated with just a few clicks and ensure that nothing is refunded that doesn't need to be refunded. Thanks to the deep Shopify integration, 8returns handles large parts of returns management fully automatically – including the creation of a new order."
Customer feedback is also utilized:
"We look closely at the return reasons. When we see that a color is returned more often than another, for example, we ask ourselves: Is it the product photos? Is there a general problem with the product? Is the description in the shop not good? Together with the data from Shopify, we get a complete picture," explains Kai-Oliver.
Kess Berlin: Beauty Essentials from Berlin
Conclusion: A Modern Returns Process
The return process now runs much more structured, faster, and customer-friendly. Lisa's conclusion:
"With 8returns, we can offer the same convenience as big fashion brands. Our customers expect this standard – and we can meet it today. Every brand should keep up with the times when it comes to returns."
All images courtesy of Kess Berlin GmbH
