Route returns

Route returns is where you take back boxes that left the warehouse and came back undelivered. You scan the box, check what is inside and take it into stock. The goods go back to the warehouse they left from. If the order still needs them, they are reserved for it again. A second tab handles goods that must be checked before they count as stock again.

Where to find it: Warehouse → Operations → Route returns

When you'll use it

• A driver could not deliver and brought the boxes back.
• A customer accepted only part of a delivery, and the rest came back in the vehicle.
• A carrier cancelled a shipment while the goods were already in the vehicle.
• Goods wait in To check and have to be counted and relabelled before they go back on stock.

This screen is not for goods that a customer sends back after receiving them. Those are handled as a return under Claims & returns.

Key concepts

• Only a box that left the warehouse can come back. A box leaves when it is handed over, see Shipment handover and Loading. This screen reverses that step for one box at a time.
• Taking a box back puts the goods back where they came from. The quantity on hand goes up again, and a Return is written to the item's movement history. If the order still needs the goods, they are reserved for it again.
• Boxes to take back lists the boxes that are still out and belong to a shipment that was not delivered. A shipment gets that status when the driver reports a failed delivery in the mobile app, see Deal with a delivery that failed. Boxes of a shipment cancelled by the carrier while the goods were in the vehicle are listed too. The list is a reminder and blocks nothing.
• When a box leaves the list. A box leaves the list when you take it back, or when its shipment is planned onto a new route.
• Partial delivery. When a customer took only part of a delivery, the boxes of that shipment are marked Partial delivery. Some boxes stayed with the customer, so fewer come back.
• Boxes to check. Goods in this list are physically in the warehouse but do not count as stock. They cannot be reserved, issued or sold until somebody has checked them. Goods get there in these cases:
  • a box comes back after the number of parcels of one of its products was changed, so its old labels no longer describe the goods;
  • somebody withdrew a product's stock for inspection on the product record, see Change the parcel layout;
  • a return arrived without a box.
• Checking a box means counting the goods, sticking on new labels and scanning them. Only the pieces you confirm go back on stock. The box is then closed for good.

The screen

The screen has two tabs: Receiving and To check. Refresh in the header reloads both.

Receiving

📷 Screenshot to add: the Receiving tab with a scanned box card on the left (box name, reason, shipment, contents, Take into stock button) and the Boxes to take back list on the right, one row marked Partial delivery.

Left column

• Scan a box — the field Box code. Scan the box label, or a product sticker from inside the box. You can also type the code and press Enter.

• The box card — opens after a scan, or when you click a box in the list. It shows:

  • the box name as it is printed on the label, for example ORD-1042, parcel 1 of 2, and the customer;
  • Reason, Route, Shipment and Order, each with a link when you may open that record;
  • Partial delivery or Cancelled on the way, when that applies;
  • Box code;
  • In the box — every product with its photo, code, the variant's attributes and the quantity;
  • Take into stock and Cancel.

  If the box cannot be taken back, a note on the card tells you why: it is already back in stock, it waits in To check, or it never left the warehouse.

Right column

• Boxes to take back — one row per box. Each row shows the box name, the customer, the shipment, the reason, the route, the time of the last delivery attempt, the number of attempts, the first products in the box and the box code. Click a row to open its card. This helps when the label on the box is damaged.

To check

📷 Screenshot to add: the To check tab with one box selected on the left and, on the right, a product with the three numbered steps (count, print, scan), the Note field and the Confirm inspection and receive button.

• Left: Boxes to check — one row per box, with the box name, why it is here and the first products. Click a row to select the box.
• Right: the check form for the selected box:
  • Destination warehouse — with the advanced warehouse type only. The default warehouse is chosen first;
  • one block per product, with three numbered steps: count the units, print and stick on new labels, scan the labels you stuck on;
  • Note — required. It is saved with the stock movement and on the box;
  • Confirm inspection and receive. When something is missing, a red line next to the button tells you what.

Common tasks

Take a returned box back into stock

1. Open Warehouse → Operations → Route returns. The Receiving tab opens.
2. Scan the label of the box into Box code. Or click the box in Boxes to take back.
3. Check the order and In the box.
4. Click Take into stock.
5. Read the window Take box … back into stock? and confirm with Take into stock.

You see Box taken back into stock. The box disappears from Boxes to take back. You can take back any box that left the warehouse, even if it is not on the list.

If a product's parcels were changed after packing, the box goes to To check instead. You see Box received for checking. Continue with Check a box.

Check that everything came back

1. After the vehicle is unloaded, read Boxes to take back.
2. Every box still on the list should be in the building but has not been taken back.
3. For rows marked Partial delivery, take back only the boxes that physically came back. The boxes the customer kept stay on the list.

Do this before the shipment is planned onto a new route. After that, its boxes are not listed here.

Send the goods out again

1. In Logistics, add the shipment to a new route. It waits in the planner marked as not delivered, see Route planning.
2. When the box leaves again, hand it over once more on Shipment handover or Loading. A box that was taken back can be handed over again.

Check a box

1. Open the To check tab and click the box in Boxes to check.
2. With the advanced warehouse type, check the Destination warehouse.
3. For each product, follow the three steps:
   1. Count the units. Type how many complete pieces are fit for sale. You cannot type more than the box held according to Complaia. Type 0 if none.
   2. Print and stick on new labels. Click Print labels (N). Stick one label on each parcel. Labels that were on stock once cannot go onto stock again, so the goods always get new ones.
   3. Scan the labels you stuck on. Scan each new label into the field. The counter shows, for example, 2 of 4. A line under the field confirms when the labels match the number of pieces.
4. Type a Note that says what you found.
5. Click Confirm inspection and receive.
6. Read the window. Under What goes back into stock it lists each product and its quantity. Confirm.

You see Inspection resolved. The pieces you confirmed are on stock again, recorded as a Return in the item's movement history. The box leaves the list for good.

Typing 0 for every product closes the box without adding stock. Do not scan labels in that case. Explain the reason in the note.

For a set, step 1 asks for complete sets. The products of the set go back on stock without labels, because a set has none.

Take back boxes on a POS (point of sale) terminal or in the mobile app

• POS terminal: open Route returns. You scan boxes, see the box card and take boxes into stock, as on the Receiving tab.
• Mobile app: tap Route returns on the home screen. It works the same way.

Checking boxes in To check is done in the browser only.

When it doesn't work

What you see	Why	What to do
No box or sticker with this code was found.	The code is not a box code or a product sticker from a box.	Scan the box label, or click the box in the list.
This box never left the warehouse, so there is nothing to take back.	The box is still open or closed in the warehouse.	Nothing to do here. Unpack it on Order packing if it should not exist.
This box is already back in stock.	Somebody took it back before.	Nothing. It is already on stock.
The box goes to To check instead of stock	The product's parcels were changed after the box was packed.	Check the box.
Print labels is missing in step 2, with a note about access to products	Printing labels needs access to products.	Ask somebody with Products: View to print, or ask for the permission.
Finish the items: the number of units and the labels must match.	The scanned labels do not make up the number of pieces you typed.	Scan one new label for every parcel of every piece, or correct the number.
The system records at most … in the box.	You typed more pieces than the box held.	Type the real number. Book a surplus with a stocktaking session.
This label belongs to an old or unknown package layout.	One of the scanned codes is an old label.	Print new labels in step 2 and scan those.
One of the scanned packages has already been received into stock.	One of the labels is already on stock.	Remove that code and scan a new label.
Enter a note.	The note is required.	Describe what you found.
The box is not on Boxes to take back	The driver has not reported the delivery as failed, the box was not handed over, or the shipment is already planned again.	Scan it anyway. A box that left the warehouse can always be taken back.
The banner Warehouse frozen: stocktake … in progress	A stocktaking session is open. Taking back boxes is blocked.	Wait until the session is posted or cancelled.

Permissions

To do this	You need
See Route returns in the menu, take boxes back and check boxes	Warehouse: Stock movements (the role editor ticks Warehouse: View with it)
Print new labels while checking a box	Products: View
Open the route, the shipment or the order from the box card	Planning and route operations: View, Shipments: View or Orders: View
Take boxes back on a POS terminal or in the mobile app	Warehouse: Stock movements

Related

• Shipment handover and Loading — where boxes leave, and leave again after a return
• Route planning — what happens to the shipment after a failed delivery
• Driver app — how the driver reports a failed or partial delivery
• Stock levels — check the quantity and the movement history afterwards
• Packaging — changing a product's parcels and withdrawing stock for inspection
• Claims & returns — returns made by customers after delivery