🇦🇺Australia

Verzögerte Rückerstattungen und gebundene Liquidität durch manuelle Rückabwicklungen

Updated: Feb 20263 verified sources

Definition

Large furniture chains in Australia often state that refunds are processed only after returns are received and inspected, with timelines of up to 14 days for processing.[2][6][8] For example, IKEA notes that refunds are processed within 14 days of return for parcel returns.[6] Fantastic Furniture requires goods to be returned to a store or collected before processing refunds, and Harvey Norman indicates that goods must be returned within a reasonable period with proof of purchase for refunds, implying manual validation.[2][8] In environments with high return volumes and partly manual workflows (paper return slips, spreadsheet tracking, separate warehouse receipt systems), this creates long queues of pending refunds, reconciliation efforts between finance and stores, and customer queries about refund status. The financial impact is two‑fold: (1) cash‑flow timing – customer funds remain in transit or at risk of chargebacks; (2) internal labour – additional hours spent reconciling refund batches, chasing missing documentation, and manually triggering refunds. For a retailer with AUD 10–20 million in annual card‑based sales and a 5–8% return rate, the average outstanding refund pool can easily sit at AUD 0.5–1.5 million at any given time, with manual processes extending Days Sales Outstanding and tying up working capital.

Key Findings

Financial Impact: Logic-based estimate: With AUD 15 million annual sales and a 6% return rate, annual returns equal AUD 900,000. If average refund cycle is 10–14 days instead of an automated 2–3 days, additional working capital of roughly AUD 200,000–400,000 is tied up on a rolling basis. Additional manual processing (e.g. 80–120 back‑office hours per month at fully loaded AUD 40/hour) adds ~AUD 38,000–58,000 in annual labour cost.
Frequency: Continuous; every return requiring inspection and manual refund processing contributes to the working capital drag and reconciliation workload.
Root Cause: Lack of automated linkage between return authorisation, warehouse receipt and payment gateways; reliance on manual forms and approvals; inconsistent store‑level practices and fragmented systems between online and in‑store sales channels.

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Australian furniture retailers can free up AUD 0.5–1.5 million in working capital and cut dozens of back‑office hours per month by automating return authorisations, integrating warehouse receipt events with refund triggers and standardising refund SLAs.