Return management in fashion retail: How L&T digitizes returns with toern and relieves the customer service team

In Osnabrück, L&T stands for fashion, sports, home, and living under one roof. The L&T quarter houses the fashion store, sports store, and outlet side-by-side, with the entire range also available digitally via their online shop. Anyone operating both physical and online retail knows the problem: online returns often become a side task. Since June 2026, L&T has been working with toern to address this.

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The challenge: Returns in the fashion house via manual email registration

If customers wanted to return an item from the online shop, they had to send an email to L&T. A customer service representative would then manually create a return label and email it back. This was time-consuming for both sides. Customers had to wait for their label, and the team had to process every return individually.

Furthermore, there was no centralized overview of which returns were in transit or why items were being returned. During onboarding, it quickly became clear where the biggest opportunity for improvement lay: returns needed to be registered digitally.

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The solution: Digital return registration and automated return processes with toern

Today, customers register their returns themselves, 24/7. In the toern return portal, they select the items and provide a reason. Immediately after completing the registration, they receive their return label automatically. No tickets, no waiting time, and no manual steps for the customer service team.

toern is directly integrated into L&T's Shopify shop. Order data flows automatically into the portal, and every registered return appears in the toern dashboard. At the same time, L&T can see all process updates directly in their Shopify shop at the order level. L&T handles fulfillment in-house. In the dashboard, the team sees in real-time which returns have been registered, which are in transit, and which have already been received.

Return reasons are not just counted. toern.AI analyzes free-text entries, voice messages, and image uploads, bundling them into recurring patterns by item and size: fit, cut, and material.

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Returns in retail: toern connects the online shop and fashion house with in-store returns

For retailers selling both in-store and online, returns are not just an online issue. toern therefore also supports in-store returns: customers register their online order digitally and drop it off directly at the store. The return follows the same process and ends up in the dashboard with the same data. For fashion houses, this means: instead of a package at a drop-off point, there is a visit to the store. And those who come in to return an item rarely leave empty-handed.

The result: Faster returns and a relieved team at L&T

Since launching in June 2026, customers have digitally registered more than 1,000 items for return via the toern portal. Previously, each of these returns would have required an email and a manually created label.

Key metrics

•          4 days from registration to receipt: That is how long it takes for goods to be back in the store and ready for resale. This is independent of weekends and service hours, as registration and labeling are fully automated.

•          97% of returns are processed without manual intervention.

•          18% return rate, visible at any time on the dashboard at both the package and item level.

•          10 hours saved in customer service per week

Return reasons with toern.AI: What sales staff do in-store, the product page does online

In a fashion store, customers try things on before they buy. And if something doesn't fit, the sales assistant says, "This size runs a little small." That moment is missing in an online shop. There, the product detail page (PDP) has to take over the role of the advisor.

That is exactly the data toern provides. toern.AI analyzes customer feedback and summarizes it by item and size. If a dress is consistently reported as running too large in a certain size, fits too tightly at the bust, or the fabric is thinner than expected, the dashboard highlights the pattern at a glance. This allows for concrete recommendations for the product page: a sizing note, more precise material or fit information, or feedback to the brand. This is how L&T prevents the next return before it even happens, and the item stays sold.

Our employees can now focus even more on the real problem cases, while toern handles the routine return tasks – it’s a perfect match. - Lars Rülander, Head of Customer Experience Management

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With toern, returns at L&T are no longer an email-based task, but a digital, automated process with data down to the item level. The team saves time, and with every return, L&T gains a better understanding of its own product range.

Don’t just handle returns. Outsmart them.

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