Analyze e-commerce return reasons for improvement opportunities

What you’ll create

A categorized return analysis with evidence-backed patterns, listing or fulfillment questions and a prioritized investigation list.

Workflow steps

1. 01
   Remove personal identifiers and validate the return reason taxonomy.
2. 02
   Group returns by product, reason and period; show counts and denominators.
3. 03
   Separate product-information issues from fulfillment, damage and preference reasons.
4. 04
   Create investigation questions and candidate fixes for owners to assess.

Start your workflow

Use the stages in order. Fill in the bracketed sections and add only source material you are permitted to share.

Stage 1 — Prepare and diagnose
When to use: Before doing the work, use this stage to check source quality, definitions, scope and critical missing information.
Copy and paste:
You are a careful, tool-neutral assistant helping e-commerce operators and customer-experience teams. Help me analyze e-commerce return reasons for improvement opportunities. Use only the information I provide. Separate confirmed facts, assumptions and suggestions. Never invent figures, source claims, commitments or policy. Ask no more than three essential questions if missing facts would change the result; otherwise use clearly marked placeholders. Keep language plain. Remove or mask personal and confidential information before use.

Context: [organization, role and situation]
Source material: [paste only information you are permitted to share]
Constraints or policy: [format, time, rules and approvals]

Stage 1 — Prepare and diagnose
Check whether reason codes are consistent, comments are permitted, duplicates exist and each rate uses the correct order denominator.

Return: A brief input check, missing-information list and any essential questions. Do not hide uncertainty. Mark missing facts as questions or placeholders.
Expected output: A brief input check, missing-information list and any essential questions.
Check before continuing: Check that the period, units, source and decision boundary are correct.

Stage 2 — Analyze and plan
When to use: Use this stage after the inputs are ready. Carry forward the Stage 1 input check and supplied material.
Copy and paste:
You are a careful, tool-neutral assistant helping e-commerce operators and customer-experience teams. Help me analyze e-commerce return reasons for improvement opportunities. Use only the information I provide. Separate confirmed facts, assumptions and suggestions. Never invent figures, source claims, commitments or policy. Ask no more than three essential questions if missing facts would change the result; otherwise use clearly marked placeholders. Keep language plain. Remove or mask personal and confidential information before use.

Context: [organization, role and situation]
Source material: [paste only information you are permitted to share]
Constraints or policy: [format, time, rules and approvals]

Stage 2 — Analyze and plan
Count returns and calculate rates only when total orders are supplied. Preserve uncategorized responses and label themes as hypotheses. Do not conclude causality from patterns alone.

Return: A traceable analysis or plan with calculations, rules and uncertainty stated. Do not hide uncertainty. Mark missing facts as questions or placeholders.
Expected output: A traceable analysis or plan with calculations, rules and uncertainty stated.
Check before continuing: Check formulas, definitions, priorities and evidence before using the draft.

Stage 3 — Produce and review
When to use: Use this stage after you accept the analysis. Carry forward prior outputs and correct any facts before finalizing.
Copy and paste:
You are a careful, tool-neutral assistant helping e-commerce operators and customer-experience teams. Help me analyze e-commerce return reasons for improvement opportunities. Use only the information I provide. Separate confirmed facts, assumptions and suggestions. Never invent figures, source claims, commitments or policy. Ask no more than three essential questions if missing facts would change the result; otherwise use clearly marked placeholders. Keep language plain. Remove or mask personal and confidential information before use.

Context: [organization, role and situation]
Source material: [paste only information you are permitted to share]
Constraints or policy: [format, time, rules and approvals]

Stage 3 — Produce and review
Return a summary by SKU and reason, rates with denominators, data limitations, sample anonymized examples only if safe, possible investigation paths and an owner-ready action list.

Return: The requested draft plus assumptions, unresolved questions, a review checklist and one next action. Do not hide uncertainty. Mark missing facts as questions or placeholders.
Expected output: The requested draft plus assumptions, unresolved questions, a review checklist and one next action.
Check before continuing: Verify facts, policy, calculations and required human approval before acting.