Returns and refunds SOP for Egyptian stores

Turn returns into trust-building moments with a clear, fair SOP.

Operations

A returned parcel arriving back at your desk is not a lost sale yet, but it becomes one the moment nobody knows who opens the box, who decides if the money goes back, and who puts the stock on the shelf again. The merchants who keep customers after a return are the ones who run the same tight backstage routine every single time, so that an item refused in Tanta and a dress mailed back from Alexandria both move through the same receive, inspect, decide, refund, and restock steps without anything getting lost, double-refunded, or quietly stolen.

This lesson is the internal standard operating procedure your team follows behind the counter, not the public promise your shopper reads before buying. It assumes the buyer already qualified under your stated terms and now their parcel, or their request, has landed with your operations. What follows is the workflow and the approvals that turn a messy pile of returns into a controlled process you can hand to a new team member on their first week and trust them to run correctly.

Map the two intake channels first

Returns reach an Egyptian store through two very different doors, and treating them the same is where money leaks. Sort every incoming case into one of these before you touch it:

  • Refused or returned-to-origin COD parcels. The courier never collected payment and is sending the box back to you. You paid the round-trip shipping, the customer owes you nothing, and there is no refund to issue — only an inspect-and-restock job plus a note on that customer's history.
  • Buyer-initiated returns after delivery. The customer already paid (cash at the door or online) and is now sending an item back for a refund or exchange. This is the case that actually triggers a payout, so it carries the heavier approval and verification load.

Log both in your store's order tools against the original order the instant they arrive, so a returned parcel is never sitting unrecorded on a shelf where it can be forgotten or pocketed.

Run the five steps in order, every time

  1. Receive and match. Open the parcel against its order number and confirm the SKU, quantity, and any free gifts are what left your warehouse. Photograph the item and its packaging on arrival — those photos are your only defence if the buyer later disputes the condition or claims you received something you did not.
  2. Inspect and grade. Decide condition on the spot and tag it: resellable (sealed, unworn, tags on), repairable, or damaged/used. For clothing check for wear, makeup, and odour; for electronics confirm the factory seal and that all accessories returned. The grade decides both the refund amount and where the stock goes next.
  3. Decide the outcome. Match the case against your published terms — the window, condition rules, and who pays return shipping all live in your customer-facing policy, so apply that rather than re-arguing it here. See your public refund and exchange policy for the exact rules your team enforces at this step. Choose one outcome: full refund, partial refund with the return-shipping fee deducted in EGP, exchange, or rejection with the item returned to the buyer.
  4. Execute the refund. Because most orders were cash on delivery, there is no card transaction to reverse. Send the money by InstaPay or a mobile wallet such as Vodafone Cash to the number the buyer confirms, or issue store credit if they accept it. Record the transfer reference number against the order, mark the order refunded in your system, and message the buyer on WhatsApp with the amount and reference so the loop is visibly closed.
  5. Restock or write off. Resellable items go straight back into sellable stock so they can earn again; damaged or used items go to a clearly separated quarantine or write-off bin and never silently re-enter inventory. Keeping the adjustment accurate here is what keeps your stock counts honest enough to trust.

Decide who approves what

A returns process without clear authority either freezes on every decision or leaks cash through unchecked refunds. Set thresholds in EGP and write them down:

  • A front-line agent can approve straightforward refunds and exchanges below a set value — for example up to 1,000 EGP — on items graded resellable.
  • Anything above that threshold, any disputed condition, or any second return from the same customer goes to a supervisor or the owner.
  • Separate the person who approves a refund from the person who sends the money. One verifies and authorises; another executes the transfer. That split is your simplest defence against an insider quietly refunding to their own wallet.

Close the loop and learn from it

Every completed case should leave three traces: the order marked with its final status, the transfer reference stored, and a short reason code such as "wrong size", "arrived damaged", or "changed mind". Review those reason codes monthly. If one product drives most of your damaged returns, your packaging or supplier is the problem; if one courier route drives most refusals, that is a shipping decision, not a returns one. A return handled cleanly and refunded fast often earns more loyalty than an order that simply went right.

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