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ATLANTA — Pollen Returns, a retail returns pickup technology platform, has secured a patent for its industry-first technology that’s changing the way returns are made.
Spencer Kieboom
Pollen Returns connects retailers with a network of trusted logistics partners, like FedEx and UPS, that provide a pickup agent for a door-to-warehouse, label/box-less return at no additional cost to the retailer. With over 20,000 drop locations, the company’s geographic footprint reaches 95% of the U.S. It makes the return as easy as the purchase for the customer and empowers the retailer with the ability to leverage existing inventory for better planning and capital utilization.
“With the explosive growth of online shopping, most retailers have more than 20% of their inventory tied up in the returns process at any given time, crippling them from effectively managing their product and profitability,” said Christian Piller, cofounder and chief commercial officer of Pollen Returns. “Our technology provides a strategic lever, allowing brands to better control the flow of their product during the returns process to maximize its value and resale potential.”
Pollen Returns allows retailers to automatically process product returns and exchanges so they can better leverage goods and predict and plan inventory needs, including the ability to:
• Digitally transmit return initiation information and a drop-off location to an available pickup agent.
• Audit the condition of the product being picked up, based on preselected criteria.
• Access return product data, including data encoded on a digital bin/return container or a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID) encoded in a QR code.
• Track a photographic chain of custody of products during the return process.
“This patent comes at a pivotal time for Pollen Returns and will launch us into our next phase of company growth,” said Spencer Kieboom, cofounder and chief executive officer of Pollen Returns.
Pollen Returns has seen substantial growth since launching in 2021, 650% year over year, and is beginning to work with returns platforms and launch direct pilots with major retailers. The company’s technology solution saves retailers over $4 per return, with savings increasing with package volume, saving retailers 34% on average.
