Parcels that come back, handled at the scanner

Refused deliveries and undeliverable parcels arrive at your door as a pile of boxes with courier labels on them. Scan the label, easySales identifies the order behind it, records the parcel as back in your hands, and triggers whatever should happen next.

  • Scan the courier label — no order number to look up
  • Works with the barcode formats couriers actually print
  • Every scan can trigger an automation flow
No card required
Return-to-sender scan station matching scanned courier barcodes to their orders Return to sender Scan station SCANNED ORDER RESULT 2201938471 #300431 Matched 4920184402 #300430 Matched %8830192841 #300429 Matched 1Z4820391 #300436 Matched

HOW IT WORKS

Three seconds per box

The label on the parcel is the only input.

1

Scan the courier label

Point your hand scanner at the AWB barcode on the returning parcel. No typing, no searching, no cross-referencing a courier report against your order list.

2

easySales finds the order

The scanned code is resolved to the order through a series of matching rules that account for how each courier formats and prefixes its barcodes.

3

The parcel is recorded back

The shipment is marked as returned to you and an event fires, so your automation flows can restock, notify, refund or route the order onward.

RETURNED PARCELS

The pile by the door, cleared properly

Refused parcels are an operational problem before they are a finance problem.

01

Barcode matching that copes with real courier labels

Couriers append parcel suffixes, prefix their codes with stray characters, and print a value that does not exactly match what their API returned. The scan resolves through several matching strategies — including normalising the quirks specific carriers add — so a genuine parcel is found rather than rejected.

Multi-strategy match Courier normalisation Prefix tolerance
Diagram showing a scanned courier barcode being normalised and resolved to an order Trigger Barcode scanned Condition Resolves to an order Action Record parcel as returned
02

Every scan can start a flow

Recording the parcel is the beginning, not the end. Because the scan fires an event, an automation flow can put the stock back on the shelf, apply a custom status, notify the customer, or move the order into your refund queue — without anybody remembering to do it.

Flow trigger Restock Custom status Notify

See automation flows →

Diagram showing a return-to-sender scan branching into restock and notification actions Trigger Parcel scanned back in Condition Order was dispatched Action Apply custom status Action Notify the customer
03

Separate from a customer return request

A buyer asking to send something back and a courier bringing an undelivered parcel to your door are different problems. Return-to-sender is the warehouse workflow for the second one: it operates on the original order and its shipment, so your returns queue does not fill up with parcels nobody requested to return.

Order-level Not a return request Warehouse workflow
Comparison showing buyer-requested returns handled as return records and refused parcels handled at the order shipment Two different things Compare CASE HANDLED AS Buyer requests a return Return record Returns Courier brings it back Order shipment RTS
04

Recover the money as well as the box

A refused cash-on-delivery parcel is revenue that never arrived. Once the parcel is back and the order is flagged, the invoice can be storno'd and the payout reconciliation stops expecting money that is not coming.

Storno credit note COD recovery Clean reconciliation

See payout reconciliation →

Diagram showing a returned cash-on-delivery parcel triggering a storno credit note Trigger COD parcel returned Condition Invoice was issued Action Issue storno credit note

Works with the couriers you ship with, across every channel you sell on

5 stars

"The pile clears in minutes"

5 stars

"Stock goes back by itself"

5 stars

"We stopped losing boxes"

No card required
14-day free trial
Cancel anytime

Ready to clear the returns pile properly?

Set up the scan station and let every refused parcel find its own order.

Start free trial

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question? Contact us and we'll be happy to help.

The courier label already on the parcel. easySales resolves that code to the order behind it, so nobody has to look up an order number or match a courier report by hand.

A standard hand scanner or PDA that types the code into the field — the kind that behaves like a keyboard. There is no phone-camera barcode reader, so plan for a wedge scanner at the bench.

Usually the scanner's keyboard layout is sending different characters than expected, so the code never matches. If scanning suddenly stops working with no other change, check the scanner configuration first.

No, and that is deliberate. Return-to-sender records the parcel against the original order and its shipment. A buyer-initiated return is a separate record with its own accept, reject and refund workflow.

Yes. Both stations share the same scanned marker on the shipment, so an order processed here can warn as already scanned if it later passes the outbound station — worth knowing before you treat it as a bug.

Yes, via an automation flow. The scan fires an event, and a flow can restock the units, apply a custom status, notify the customer and queue the refund without further manual steps.