Kulani Kinis is a swimwear brand based in Sydney, Australia, known for their soft and comfy suits. The idea behind the brand came mid-way through a trip to Hawaii in 2015. Dani, one of the brand’s co-founders, grew tired of buying $200 bikinis that arrived damaged, poorly made, or unflattering. So, she and her partner Alex began creating high-quality, affordable swimwear that people love to wear. 

Over the years, the soft and comfy suits have reached shelves and loyal fans worldwide. As the brand grew, the returns process became expensive, time-consuming, and frustrating for customers. So, Kulani Kinis used the Gorgias + Loop integration to:

• Streamline the returns process for customers from days to minutes
• Provide personalized care throughout the return/exchange process
• Save $400,000 (so far) by suggesting exchanges over refunds
• Generate $80,000 (so far) through exchange upsells

Before moving to Gorgias, we all shared a Gmail account to manage all customer queries. Our holy grail was the ‘unread’ filter that we used to track incoming return requests. Before we started using Loop, customers who wanted to make a return or exchange had to go through multiple, painstaking steps. Now the process is seamless, automatic, and easy.

— Sarah, Customer Care Optimization Manager at Kulani Kinis

The challenge: Outgrowing a manual, time-consuming returns process

As Kulani Kinis rapidly expanded internationally, they outgrew their garage workshop — as well as their legacy customer service processes. 

To request a return or exchange, customers used to fill out a form on the website that triggered a Trello card prompting an employee to double-check that all refund requests were in-policy and that there was sufficient stock to fulfill all exchange requests. 

As a final step, customers had to email Kulani Kinis once they dropped off the return package in the mail to initiate an exchange or refund. As Sarah said above, the team managed the process by marking emails as “Unread” until they fulfilled the request.

From end to end, customers had to wait several days to learn whether they would be able to return an item after sending the initial request. 

The solution: An instant returns experience powered by Gorgias + Loop

Customers across the world are rarely happy to wait days for an answer. So, the Kulani Kinis team decided to use Loop to seamlessly process return requests in minutes, not days. No more Trello boards, hand-checking, or marking as “Unread”. 

They integrated Loop with Gorgias to bring Loop Returns data into their Gorgias dashboard and embed Gorgias’s live chat widget in the returns portal. This integration has a few key benefits:

• Customers can easily ask questions during the returns process via the live chat widget: “I love the fit but not the color. If I exchanged for a new color, would it arrive before I go on vacation in a week?”
• The customer service team can attach visual product links to responses to recommend specific products without having to manually copy and paste a raw URLs
• The customer service team can see all the customer and store data (like purchase history, exchange item stock, and past orders) to provide personalized responses without tab-switching to Shopify, Loop, and old emails

“As a team, I think the aspect of the Gorgias + Loop integration that we love most is that we can see a customer’s return right inside the customer interaction in Gorgias. It seems like a small thing, but as a company with 5 different Shopify stores and 5 different Loop integrations, not having to switch back and forth between integrations and browser tabs is an amazing convenience.”

— Sarah, Customer Care Optimization Manager

The result: Live chat agents save $400k by suggesting exchanges over returns

Now that the team can provide instant, personalized customer care, they encourage many customers to request exchanges rather than refunds. In total, the team has saved $400,000 with this strategy.

The team also drove $80,000 in upsells from customers who ended up exchanging items. That’s right: Customers come for a refund and end up ordering more than the original purchase, thanks to the interactive portal and conversations with helpful support agents. 

Of course, revenue earned is only one side of the coin. On the other side are happy customers who value speedy, accurate, and personalized experience.

A message for future users of Gorgias + Loop

My advice for another company considering Gorgias + Loop Returns would be to go for it!

— Sarah, Customer Care Optimization Manager

Want to streamline your returns process, improve CX, and drive revenue? Learn more about the Gorgias + Loop integration.