Return Management - erlich textil

Returns

How we handle returned products

Every return pollutes our environment.

There were already over 3.65 billion goods shipments in Germany in 2019. Since 2020 and the Corona pandemic, this number has increased further - an average increase in order volume of more than 90% was recorded, with German consumers ordering around 2.3 products more than usual. This is accompanied by an analogously growing number of returns: the absolute number of returns increased again in 2020 and is estimated at 315 million return packages. Especially in the fashion sector, the return rates are sometimes as high as 50%, which not only causes high costs for the mail-order companies, but also enormous environmental damage: in addition to the energy and resource consumption in the production process, there is also packaging waste and CO₂ emissions caused by transport - on average around 200-1000 grams per package.

The legal framework.

Last year, there was an amendment to the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act which is intended to reduce the destruction of goods, long delivery routes and thus also economic losses for traders. Specifically, the legislator obliges traders to demonstrably handle products responsibly - in this way, the state will be able to take more efficient action against the waste of resources in the future and create barriers to the destruction of returns and surpluses. Instead, a sensible use is to be found for the products concerned and recycling is to be guaranteed for at least three years; in future, corresponding measures and intentions for the avoidance of returns must also be documented and disclosed.

Returns management at erlich.

Every return not only means additional work for you, but also has ecological consequences. Currently, our product-related return rate is 19% per year on average - which is well below the average. That makes us already very proud and grateful for your help. With your support, we want to continue to protect our environment by further minimizing returns and counteracting any unnecessary CO₂ emissions.
In order to maintain a low rate, we would like to continue to sensitize you and ourselves to avoid returns by providing specific information about the effects of returns and encouraging you to only return products after careful consideration. However, if one of our products does not meet your expectations 100%, the product can be returned to us from Germany and Austria within 14 days free of charge. We then prepare the returned items with the utmost care so that they can be resold or recycled - we want to prevent the disposal of the products at all costs.

We make it easy for you and help you make the right purchase decision.

Detailed product illustrations

In order to convey as accurate a picture as possible of our products before you buy them, we provide each product with realistic images from several perspectives and show our products on models of various body shapes. In the future, we will also integrate videos to give you an even better impression of the proportions. We also make a special effort to provide detailed descriptions as well as a list of corresponding product features with all the important special features of the product - including not only material composition and care instructions, but also size information of the individual elements as well as reference sizes of our models. Therefore, please take the time to inform yourself comprehensively about our products and their characteristics - in this way you support us in avoiding returns and reducing the burden on our environment.

Accurate fit even before trying on

One of the most common reasons for returns is ordering a product in the wrong size - that's why you'll find not only a size chart with the corresponding measurements for every product, but also precise instructions for identifying and measuring your size. Our size guide, which contains all the important information about the individual fit of the products, as well as customer reviews about the products and their accuracy of fit, serve as additional help. In order to do something good for you and our environment, we ask you to be especially careful when choosing your size.

Detailed product illustrations

In order to convey as accurate a picture as possible of our products before you buy them, we provide each product with realistic images from several perspectives and show our products on models of various body shapes. In the future, we will also integrate videos to give you an even better impression of the proportions. We also make a special effort to provide detailed descriptions as well as a list of corresponding product features with all the important special features of the product - including not only material composition and care instructions, but also size information of the individual elements as well as reference sizes of our models. Therefore, please take the time to inform yourself comprehensively about our products and their characteristics - in this way you support us in avoiding returns and reducing the burden on our environment.

Accurate fit even before trying on

One of the most common reasons for returns is ordering a product in the wrong size - that's why you'll find not only a size chart with the corresponding measurements for every product, but also precise instructions for identifying and measuring your size. Our size guide, which contains all the important information about the individual fit of the products, as well as customer reviews about the products and their accuracy of fit, serve as additional help. In order to do something good for you and our environment, we ask you to be especially careful when choosing your size.

We are here for you

If you are still unsure about the right size or the right product, you can contact us at any time. You can reach us in real time by email, via the support chat in our shop or via WhatsApp - we will be happy to help you and support you with your selection!

Our erlich quality

To ensure that you enjoy our products for a long time, you will find specific care instructions and tips for each of our articles. In order to be able to guarantee maximum quality, we also ask you to care for the product accordingly in the spirit of sustainability - so you can give it a long life cycle and actively avoid returns.

We are here for you

If you are still unsure about the right size or the right product, you can contact us at any time. You can reach us in real time by email, via the support chat in our shop or via WhatsApp - we will be happy to help you and support you with your selection!

Our erlich quality

To ensure that you enjoy our products for a long time, you will find specific care instructions and tips for each of our articles. In order to be able to guarantee maximum quality, we also ask you to care for the product accordingly in the spirit of sustainability - so you can give it a long life cycle and actively avoid returns.

We value our returns and treat them with the utmost care.

Packaging and protection

To guarantee the reusability of our products, we explain to you how the products should be packed and handled in order to return them in perfect condition. By returning unworn and unwashed products in their original packaging, there is usually nothing to prevent a resale.

Packaging and protection

To guarantee the reusability of our products, we explain to you how the products should be packed and handled in order to return them in perfect condition. By returning unworn and unwashed products in their original packaging, there is usually nothing to prevent a resale.

Regional processing

Your returned goods are immediately returned to our warehouse, where they are processed under the highest hygienic guidelines and put back into circulation in the spirit of sustainability. We also reuse the outer packaging in order to save resources and keep the proportion of new packaging materials as low as possible. Our returned goods therefore remain in Germany and are processed and managed locally - we send defective products directly back to the manufacturing company.

Reuse instead of disposal

Intact products are refurbished and returned to the trade - this is how the returned product gets back into the regular sales cycle. If this is not possible, we recycle the B-goods in sample sales and regularly pass them on to the Unperfektshop Mit Ecken und Kanten. In addition, we donate remaining products to charitable organisations: last year, for example, we were able to support Cologne's homeless aid organisation with over 600 products. With the help of these recycling stages, we want to prevent the disposal of our products by all means possible.

Regional processing

Your returned goods are immediately returned to our warehouse, where they are processed under the highest hygienic guidelines and put back into circulation in the spirit of sustainability. We also reuse the outer packaging in order to save resources and keep the proportion of new packaging materials as low as possible. Our returned goods therefore remain in Germany and are processed and managed locally - we send defective products directly back to the manufacturing company.

Reuse instead of disposal

Intact products are refurbished and returned to the trade - this is how the returned product gets back into the regular sales cycle. If this is not possible, we recycle the B-goods in sample sales and regularly pass them on to the Unperfektshop Mit Ecken und Kanten. In addition, we donate remaining products to charitable organisations: last year, for example, we were able to support Cologne's homeless aid organisation with over 600 products. With the help of these recycling stages, we want to prevent the disposal of our products by all means possible.