Reading a returns column without guessing
How to separate packaging damage, size mismatch, and ‘changed mind’ before you redesign a listing.
Marketplace returns exports often arrive as a single percentage. That number is almost useless for seller performance analytics until you split reasons and map them to SKUs.
Start by grouping free-text reasons into a short codebook: damaged in transit, item not as described, sizing, late arrival, and genuine change of mind. Then chart counts — not only rates — so a popular SKU does not hide a smaller line that returns half its units.
Overlay fulfilment delays on the same weeks. Late parcels inflate “changed mind” more often than sellers expect. Only after that overlay does a Listing Health Check on imagery or attributes make sense.
Bring the codebook to your next scorecard session; we would rather argue about categories you already use than invent a new vocabulary on the call.