In returns, the problem isn't the tool anymore. It's everything behind it

Returns aren't broken. The process behind them is

Commerce Thinking, an independent consultancy, sat down with 24 fast-growing ecommerce brands, most of them in fashion and UK-based, to understand how they really handle their returns and their international growth. No sponsorship. Just brands telling what works and what doesn't.

Out of all the returns platforms they rated, Reveni scored the highest in the study: a 9.5 out of 10. And in cross-border, Reveni Atlas also leads, with an 8.5.

But the score is the least of it. What's interesting is why.

What the study is about

The study spots a pattern that repeats brand after brand: ecommerce brands go international long before they're ready for it. 71% of the brands in the study, all with revenues between £10m and £100m, already make more than 30% of their sales outside their home country. And almost none of them planned it. A product takes off in another market, sales spike, and operations are left running to catch up.

That's where the finding that hits closest to home comes from: returns tools have improved a lot. Returns operations have not. The portal looks great. What's behind it is a mess. Half-working integrations, routing that doesn't fit each market, data that doesn't reconcile in any system. As one brand puts it in the study, the portal is great and the process is a nightmare.

Returns: the tool is solved, the operation isn't

In the returns platform ratings, Reveni comes out on top with a 9.5. But what really makes the difference, according to the study, isn't the interface. It's what sits underneath.

Brands don't switch platforms because the tool fails, but because their reality changes: a new market, another warehouse, a jump in volume. And that's where legacy platforms fall short. The study is fairly blunt about the older ones, like Global-e or Narvar, which brands describe as slow or rigid. What they're looking for instead is a platform that holds up as things change and that has someone behind it when something breaks. That's our territory.

Cross-border: where the most margin slips away

If returns is a problem brands are already solving, cross-border is one that many simply tolerate. Opaque costs, rigid flows, changes that take weeks. And still almost nobody moves, because cross-border touches so many pieces (checkout, duties, currency, fraud, logistics) that changing it is daunting.

This is where Reveni Atlas stands out in the study: it leads the cross-border platform ratings with an 8.5, ahead of options like Global-e. And the reason connects with the point above. About the big cross-border players, one brand in the study sums up the underlying complaint: they're seen as market leaders, but not as a pragmatic partner. The exact opposite of how we work.

Atlas exists precisely for that: so a brand can sell abroad without margin slipping away through opaque costs or a rigid operation, and with the flexibility to adapt to each market instead of imposing a single mould.

Why Reveni shows up in the study

Because it confirms what we do.

Brands don't need another tool with a slicker interface. They need operations that hold up, integrations that work, an exchange that doesn't depend on someone doing it by hand, and someone on the other end when something goes wrong. The study says it plainly: what best predicts whether a brand trusts its provider isn't features or price, it's support. Being there when things break. One of our customers, from the brand Ego, sums it up:

"Reveni have genuinely gone above and beyond for us. They've built custom setups, developed new integrations, and worked closely with our team, without cutting corners or over-promising."

That's what we do. We turn returns from a cost into a retention engine, and we build the cross-border operation so a brand can grow abroad without losing margin or control along the way.

What you take away if you sell abroad

Even if you don't work with us, the study leaves warnings worth heeding for any growing brand.

That returns infrastructure isn't a one-time decision. What works in one market breaks the moment you add another. That cross-border is where the most margin slips away without anyone watching. And that, when choosing a provider, support matters more than the feature list. Always.

The study is independent and also rates other platforms on the market. That's why it's worth it: it's not our brochure, it's a snapshot of the sector made by a third party. And in that snapshot, we come out on top in returns and in cross-border.

Read the full thing

Here we've told you the essentials. The study has much more: data by chapter, testimonials from brands, and an in-depth analysis of returns and cross-border in the mid-market.

Read the full Commerce Thinking study here: https://returns.commercethinking.com/