CASE STUDY
Jun 9, 2025
How Tecovas transformed returns into a strategic advantage
Key Results
72% increase in UPH: eliminating Tecovas’ returns backlog.
66% reduction in B-grade inventory: improving the value of inventory investments.
88% decrease in return fraud: protecting Tecovas from policy abuse.
Integrations
3PL: Geodis
RMA: Loop Returns
CX Stack: Gladly
About Tecovas
Founded in Austin, TX, Tecovas is a modern western brand redefining the boot-buying experience. Known for their handcrafted boots, durable leather goods, and premium customer service, Tecovas blends timeless tradition with DTC innovation. Today, the company operates across DTC, retail, and wholesale channels – with returns optimization key to growth.
The Challenge
Growing return volume created operational pain for Tecovas
Like many fast-growing brands, Tecovas saw an opportunity to improve operational efficiency and processes related to returns management. Specifically, their team sought to mitigate backlogged inventory, combat policy abuse, and improve visibility into real-time operations while continuing to deliver an exceptional customer experience. With these goals in mind, Tecovas partnered with Two Boxes.
Since deploying in early 2024, Tecovas has leveraged Two Boxes to improve returns processing efficiency and grading accuracy, protect against fraud, and optimize associate training, while also ensuring visibility across the returns journey – from dock to restock.
“There had to be a better way – we were refunding customers, not maximizing our operations, and lacked visibility into returns. We just didn’t have the right tools.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
The Solution
Improve processing efficiency and grading accuracy with digital SOPs
Prior to launching Two Boxes, Geodis associates relied on a detailed 25-page manual to support inspection and grading of Tecovas’ returns – a common practice adopted by brands. The manual was designed to coach associates through grading and inspection, how to identify imperfections or ineligible returns, and what to do when a product was damaged or fraudulent. While thorough, the manual prevented associates from moving efficiently and inventory was often marked as B or D-grade, as a result.
“Before Two Boxes, associates were flipping through our manual trying to make the right decision – they’re going back and forth, often asking each other for support.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
From an investment perspective, Tecovas incurred significant losses from B and D-grade returns – discounting, shipping costs, and refunds. This was critical in their evaluation of Two Boxes.
“On a return, we’re refunding the customer. Plus we offer free shipping and returns – so we’re making a substantial investment in inventory, then taking a hit.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Tecovas used Two Boxes to digitize their returns SOP – creating a guided workflow for associates that improved decision making, grading accuracy, and processing speed. Since launch, Tevocas has seen a 72% increase in UPH and 66% decrease in returns marked as B-grade. Associates operate with greater confidence, and Tecovas is protecting more of their inventory investment.
“Two Boxes has allowed us to be much more literal with how we disposition. Associates can look for specific attributes, and are supported with photos. We saw an immediate lift in UPH and a big drop in the volume of inventory being marked as B and D-grade." –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Enforce return policies and protect against fraud with Shipback
Like many beloved brands, bad actors abused Tecovas’ returns policy. Frequently, their team would receive heavily damaged boots or wrong items that were ineligible for returns. Prior to using Two Boxes, fraudsters were refunded before returns were thoroughly inspected.
“We saw a lot of fraud. People would send us damaged boots, boots where the soles were replaced, non-Tecovas items, and even empty boxes.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
In partnering with Two Boxes, Tecovas supported the development of Shipback – our latest fraud detection and mitigation feature. Shipback enabled Tecovas to prevent significant revenue losses by withholding refunds on fraudulent returns, while also automatically shipping ineligible returns back to fraudsters. Tecovas has seen an 88% decrease in return fraud as a result.
“It completely changed the financial impact of our returns. We finally have control over the process, plus real-time visibility into our entire returns operation.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Additionally, Shipback allows Tecovas to capture photos of fraudulent returns – giving them confidence to combat fraudsters. In fact, Tecovas has leveraged Shipback and their CX tools to automatically notify customers of ineligible returns – saving their team time.
“Shipback gives us confidence to enforce our policy. Our CX team is armed with pictures of returns and can communicate clearly with customers that this is a policy violation and not eligible for a refund.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Onboard associates in hours, not days through guided workflows
Returns processing is a delicate and detail critical role within any warehouse. For Tecovas, this meant substantial investment in associate training and development – ensuring familiarity with returns SOPs, grading criteria, and accurate dispositioning. On average, it took 3 or more days before associates could process returns independently.
"We’d bring a new associate on board and take them through the paper manual. It’d take time to get them up to speed before they’re processing on their own. Even then, associates rely on each other for support, asking questions.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
With Two Boxes, training times are drastically reduced – from days to hours. Visual workflows and multi-language support now enable new hires to independently process returns on their first day.
“When we bring on temps, we’re seeing they’re processing returns on their first day – often at the speed of an associate who has been here for months. It’s very intuitive.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Ensure real-time visibility of returns operations from RMA to restock
Once integrated, birddogs quickly updated their refund processing event from ‘refund upon scan’ to ‘refund after inspection,’ significantly enhancing fraud protection. To ensure ongoing success, birddogs receives weekly fraud prevention reports from Two Boxes, allowing their team to stay ahead of bad actors and protect their bottom line.
“We were relying on customers to tell us the reason for why they were returning, without actually having visibility into the product or condition of the item they were returning.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Similarly, following return inspection, associates manually updated inventory in Geodis’ WMS. This limited UPH and created a system that was prone to error.
In order to maximize visibility from RMA to restock, and increase operational efficiency, Tecovas integrated Two Boxes across their stack – Loop Returns and Geodis’ WMS. Now, Tecovas can plan for inbound return volume and be confident that actions taken in Two Boxes sync automatically across systems.
“Now we have visibility into the returns we’re receiving, taking control of the full process, and it’s having a significant financial impact – we were in the dark before Two Boxes.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Ready to transform returns processing?
Let’s turn reverse logistics from a cost center into a competitive edge. Book a demo today!
Key Results
72% increase in UPH: eliminating Tecovas’ returns backlog.
66% reduction in B-grade inventory: improving the value of inventory investments.
88% decrease in return fraud: protecting Tecovas from policy abuse.
Integrations
3PL: Geodis
RMA: Loop Returns
CX Stack: Gladly
About Tecovas
Founded in Austin, TX, Tecovas is a modern western brand redefining the boot-buying experience. Known for their handcrafted boots, durable leather goods, and premium customer service, Tecovas blends timeless tradition with DTC innovation. Today, the company operates across DTC, retail, and wholesale channels – with returns optimization key to growth.
The Challenge
Growing return volume created operational pain for Tecovas
Like many fast-growing brands, Tecovas saw an opportunity to improve operational efficiency and processes related to returns management. Specifically, their team sought to mitigate backlogged inventory, combat policy abuse, and improve visibility into real-time operations while continuing to deliver an exceptional customer experience. With these goals in mind, Tecovas partnered with Two Boxes.
Since deploying in early 2024, Tecovas has leveraged Two Boxes to improve returns processing efficiency and grading accuracy, protect against fraud, and optimize associate training, while also ensuring visibility across the returns journey – from dock to restock.
“There had to be a better way – we were refunding customers, not maximizing our operations, and lacked visibility into returns. We just didn’t have the right tools.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
The Solution
Improve processing efficiency and grading accuracy with digital SOPs
Prior to launching Two Boxes, Geodis associates relied on a detailed 25-page manual to support inspection and grading of Tecovas’ returns – a common practice adopted by brands. The manual was designed to coach associates through grading and inspection, how to identify imperfections or ineligible returns, and what to do when a product was damaged or fraudulent. While thorough, the manual prevented associates from moving efficiently and inventory was often marked as B or D-grade, as a result.
“Before Two Boxes, associates were flipping through our manual trying to make the right decision – they’re going back and forth, often asking each other for support.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
From an investment perspective, Tecovas incurred significant losses from B and D-grade returns – discounting, shipping costs, and refunds. This was critical in their evaluation of Two Boxes.
“On a return, we’re refunding the customer. Plus we offer free shipping and returns – so we’re making a substantial investment in inventory, then taking a hit.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Tecovas used Two Boxes to digitize their returns SOP – creating a guided workflow for associates that improved decision making, grading accuracy, and processing speed. Since launch, Tevocas has seen a 72% increase in UPH and 66% decrease in returns marked as B-grade. Associates operate with greater confidence, and Tecovas is protecting more of their inventory investment.
“Two Boxes has allowed us to be much more literal with how we disposition. Associates can look for specific attributes, and are supported with photos. We saw an immediate lift in UPH and a big drop in the volume of inventory being marked as B and D-grade." –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Enforce return policies and protect against fraud with Shipback
Like many beloved brands, bad actors abused Tecovas’ returns policy. Frequently, their team would receive heavily damaged boots or wrong items that were ineligible for returns. Prior to using Two Boxes, fraudsters were refunded before returns were thoroughly inspected.
“We saw a lot of fraud. People would send us damaged boots, boots where the soles were replaced, non-Tecovas items, and even empty boxes.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
In partnering with Two Boxes, Tecovas supported the development of Shipback – our latest fraud detection and mitigation feature. Shipback enabled Tecovas to prevent significant revenue losses by withholding refunds on fraudulent returns, while also automatically shipping ineligible returns back to fraudsters. Tecovas has seen an 88% decrease in return fraud as a result.
“It completely changed the financial impact of our returns. We finally have control over the process, plus real-time visibility into our entire returns operation.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Additionally, Shipback allows Tecovas to capture photos of fraudulent returns – giving them confidence to combat fraudsters. In fact, Tecovas has leveraged Shipback and their CX tools to automatically notify customers of ineligible returns – saving their team time.
“Shipback gives us confidence to enforce our policy. Our CX team is armed with pictures of returns and can communicate clearly with customers that this is a policy violation and not eligible for a refund.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Onboard associates in hours, not days through guided workflows
Returns processing is a delicate and detail critical role within any warehouse. For Tecovas, this meant substantial investment in associate training and development – ensuring familiarity with returns SOPs, grading criteria, and accurate dispositioning. On average, it took 3 or more days before associates could process returns independently.
"We’d bring a new associate on board and take them through the paper manual. It’d take time to get them up to speed before they’re processing on their own. Even then, associates rely on each other for support, asking questions.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
With Two Boxes, training times are drastically reduced – from days to hours. Visual workflows and multi-language support now enable new hires to independently process returns on their first day.
“When we bring on temps, we’re seeing they’re processing returns on their first day – often at the speed of an associate who has been here for months. It’s very intuitive.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Ensure real-time visibility of returns operations from RMA to restock
Once integrated, birddogs quickly updated their refund processing event from ‘refund upon scan’ to ‘refund after inspection,’ significantly enhancing fraud protection. To ensure ongoing success, birddogs receives weekly fraud prevention reports from Two Boxes, allowing their team to stay ahead of bad actors and protect their bottom line.
“We were relying on customers to tell us the reason for why they were returning, without actually having visibility into the product or condition of the item they were returning.” –Emily Boyd, Logistics & Transportation Manager, Tecovas
Similarly, following return inspection, associates manually updated inventory in Geodis’ WMS. This limited UPH and created a system that was prone to error.
In order to maximize visibility from RMA to restock, and increase operational efficiency, Tecovas integrated Two Boxes across their stack – Loop Returns and Geodis’ WMS. Now, Tecovas can plan for inbound return volume and be confident that actions taken in Two Boxes sync automatically across systems.
“Now we have visibility into the returns we’re receiving, taking control of the full process, and it’s having a significant financial impact – we were in the dark before Two Boxes.” –Nate Peterson, VP of Supply Chain, Tecovas
Ready to transform returns processing?
Let’s turn reverse logistics from a cost center into a competitive edge. Book a demo today!
Ready to supercharge your returns?
At Two Boxes, our mission is to make returns an asset instead of a liability. We’re proud to partner with 3PLs like Stord, Barrett, & Jay Group to supercharge returns operations. If you’d like to make returns a strength for your business, reach out to us today!
Featured Integrations
Featured Customers
Returns are hard.
Two Boxes makes
them easy.
Returns are hard.
Two Boxes makes
them easy.