ETALES [ IN PRACTICE ] Glance around any airport and it immediately becomes apparent that travel is back in full swing. Chalk it up to pent-up demand but people are either hauling out long-stored luggage or buying new bags and setting off on much delayed journeys. The time was ripe for Samsonite—the world’s best-known and largest travel luggage company—to innovate and enhance their customer experience.
Managing the Return Trip
THE CUSTOMER Samsonite International is a luggage manufacturer and retailer engaged in the design, manufacture, sourcing and distribution of luggage, assorted bags, and travel accessories throughout the world. Founded in Denver in 1910, the company’s registered oce is currently in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. It operates under the Samsonite name as well as a variety of other owned and licensed brand names. Burlingame, California, is an end-to- end, centralized, and fully integrated returns management system built specifically for retail, ecommerce, manufacturing and third-party logistics organizations. THE PROVIDER ReverseLogix, headquartered in
manufactures, sources, and distributes luggage as well as business and computer bags, outdoor and casual bags, plus travel accessories throughout the world. FIRST MILES Samsonite surveyed the market to understand what types of returns management systems were available. “It was key for us to nd a solution that could easily integrate into our other systems, such as Salesforce and SAP,” explains Kalch. When they met with the ReverseLogix team and were introduced to their returns management system (RMS), Samsonite knew they had found the answer to their problems. “Samsonite’s return and warranty process from the customer’s perspective was cumbersome and manual, so they needed a better front experience for the customer,” explains Chuck Fuerst, chief marketing of cer at ReverseLogix. Whether business-to-business, business-to-consumer, or hybrid, the ReverseLogix platform facilitates, manages, and reports on the entire returns lifecycle.
“Our consumer journey wasn’t super user-friendly,” says Julie Senter tt, consumer experience manager at Samsonite. “We didn’t have a lot of reporting, or the ability to track a lot of things.” The company was especially interested in improving its warranty claims and repairs process. Samsonite lacked visibility into what consumers experienced when they initiated a warranty. “It was critical for us to develop a tool that would enable us to see consumer behavior related to the warranty,” says Stephanie Kalch, senior director of customer service of North America at Samsonite. “It would not only provide a better consumer experience, but also give us the information to make a better product.” Samsonite is likely the most recognized name in luggage. But parent company Samsonite International S.A. also represents Tumi, American
by June Allan Corrigan
Tourister, Gregory, High Sierra, Kamiliant, ebags, Lipault, and
Hartmann, among other owned and licensed brands. The company designs,
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