A brand with a holistic approach
VitaMoment is a D2C brand for dietary supplements and functional foods. Their approach goes beyond the product: the focus is on everyone who wants to sustainably change their eating and exercise habits.
"We don't just want to sell our products, but also stand by as a meaningful partner and sustainably change lifestyles," explains founder and CEO Robert Schäfer. "Our credo is: stay young while getting older, sustainably increase quality of life."
Founded at the end of 2017 in Hamburg, VitaMoment has grown very dynamically since then, averaging around 80 percent per year. Today, the brand has well over one million customers in German-speaking countries and ships just as many packages per year.
The team of over 50 in Hamburg pursues a deliberately lean, asset-light approach. "We focus fully on our core competencies, especially customer service, product development, quality management, and marketing," says VitaMoment. "We've outsourced logistics and production in close partnership within Germany. Our logistics, for example, are handled by Versandmanufaktur in Witten."
This attitude of deploying resources where they create the most value extends all the way to the returns process.
Robert Schäfer, Founder & CEO of VitaMoment
The challenge: manual effort despite minimal rate
Returns are not a classic pain point at VitaMoment. "To be honest, returns aren't really a big issue for us, partly due to our product category," says VitaMoment. "We have a return rate of well under one percent."
Nevertheless, they exist: customers who accidentally ordered the wrong thing, want to exchange for a different flavor variant, or fairly return unopened packages as part of the 100-day money-back guarantee. For a long time, this could be handled manually well, until growth reached a critical threshold.
"Only when we reached a really significant eight-figure revenue level did we say: Now the manual effort is getting a bit too much, even though the rate remains low."
In detail, manual meant: A customer gets in touch, a label is issued, the return is recorded in Shopify and handed over to logistics, then mapped and refunded. "Registration, label creation, and refund were completely manual," VitaMoment describes. "With good documentation and traceability, but step by step by hand."
With over one million packages, even small case numbers quickly add up to real hours.
The path to 8returns: recommendation instead of long search
The impetus came from VitaMoment's Shopify contact. "With Shopify Plus, you have closer account management and regular calls, and we were asked several times why we weren't using a returns service yet."
Due to the low rate, the topic was initially a lower priority. "Last year we said: Now let's tackle this, also to relieve the support team."
Another driver: customer expectations. "Many are simply used to a self-service process and were surprised that we didn't have one. With 8returns, we not only reduce our manual effort, but also the effort for customers, and the refund runs faster, without an additional one or two business days waiting time."
In the end, the complete package was convincing. "Your story, well-supported onboarding, good references, and the strong Shopify integration are the points I would highlight."
VitaMoment set up the solution largely themselves: "I set it up completely myself, with good guidance from Josephine."
The results: more time for what matters
Since the switch, customers register their return independently, automatically receive their label, and go through a process that runs without manual intermediate steps. The feedback from the team is clear.
"We have significantly less manual effort and therefore more time to clarify individual substantive questions from our customers," VitaMoment reports. "And for customers, the process speed has increased, everything just runs smoothly."
The effect on capacity is also noticeable. "The manual effort has sustainably disappeared. As a result, we have at least three to five more hours per day capacity that we invest in other topics: in review and reputation management and in optimization. So where human resources are actually sustainably value-creating."
This seamlessly fits 8returns into the brand's philosophy: stay lean, automate what can be automated, and specifically invest the freed-up time in your own core competencies.
The VitaMoment product range, including Magnesium Complex, Vitamin D3 + K2, and Omega 3
Conclusion
VitaMoment shows that automated returns management is worthwhile not only for brands with high return rates. Even with a rate under one percent, a lean, automated process makes a measurable difference: for the team that gains capacity, and for customers who get their refund faster and more easily.
Robert's advice to other brands still considering it? "Chances and risks are not comparable, just try it out. You don't have to invest much monetarily or time-wise and get very good signals from your own team after a one or two-month trial."
All images courtesy of VitaMoment.
