This is the second of our two-part series on reverse logistics. In Part 1, we followed what happens when products start moving back through the supply chain. Now we’re looking at the decision that comes before the journey: what if a brand could know where a return should go before it even starts moving?

A Return Is Already a Logistics Decision. Most Brands Just Don’t Know It Yet.

In the last Log, we followed a product on its way back through the supply chain and ended with a question:

What if a retailer could decide what happens to a return before the product starts moving?

It sounds logical enough. If a product needs repair, you would rather know that before sending it somewhere else first. If it is ready for resale, the same applies.

The problem is that brands often don’t have enough information to make that decision.

It is a problem that CIRQUEL, one of the startups built at Beam, is working on. CIRQUEL is building a technology layer for reverse logistics that helps brands understand the condition of a returned product while it is still with the customer, before it enters the return network.

When we spoke to CIRQUEL’s co-founder and CEO Anna Warchalowska about why this matters, she summed up the problem rather neatly:

“The brand doesn’t know what they’re going to get.”

A reason code only tells you so much

When a customer starts a return, the brand usually knows what was purchased and why the customer says they are sending it back.

Too small. Wrong color. Poor quality. Defective. Useful information, certainly.

But imagine the reason is too small. The product itself could still be untouched and ready to go straight back into stock. Or it could have been worn. Maybe there is a makeup stain. Maybe the zipper happens to be broken too.

Those scenarios can lead to very different next steps, yet they can all begin with exactly the same return reason.

This is why the condition of the physical product matters so much.

And traditionally, getting that information means waiting until someone can actually look at it.

The product moves. The information catches up.

In a typical return process, the customer initiates the return, receives a label or QR code, packs the item and sends it away.

The parcel starts moving. Eventually, it reaches a warehouse or returns facility. Someone opens it, inspects the product and works out what should happen next.

Maybe it goes back into inventory. Maybe it needs cleaning or repair. Maybe another resale channel would make more sense.

Only now does the brand have the information it needed to make that decision in the first place.

That timing is what CIRQUEL wants to change.

What if you inspect the return while it’s still with the customer?

CIRQUEL adds an assessment step when the customer initiates the return.

The experience is white-label, so from the customer’s perspective it remains part of the brand’s return flow. They identify the purchase, provide a few photos of the product and answer questions about why it is coming back. They can also use voice input to add context that a predefined reason code might miss.

The interesting part happens next.

CIRQUEL evaluates that information using rules defined with the brand, including the different conditions and destinations relevant to its operation. The assessment takes around 60 seconds.

And during those 60 seconds, the product hasn’t gone anywhere.

Anna describes the idea with a very simple image:

“When the T-shirt is still on Maria’s couch, just photographed, we already know what the brand wants to do with it.” 

The product may not even be packed yet.

But the decision can already be moving.

Send the information first

This is the part of CIRQUEL’s model we find particularly interesting.

You don’t necessarily have to move the product somewhere in order to start deciding what should happen to it.

You can move the information first.

Suppose the assessment suggests that an item is in good condition and the brand wants it routed toward resale in Madrid. The return journey can be planned accordingly. If another product appears to need a repair somewhere else, its journey can be different.

Anna gave exactly this type of example in our conversation: a product destined for resale could be routed to one location, while an item requiring a zipper replacement could go somewhere else.

That is a different logic from sending everything through the same first stop and sorting it out afterwards.

The destination starts following the condition of the product.

The return becomes a source of information

There is another layer to this.

A standard return form might tell a brand that customers repeatedly select bad fit.

Images, voice input and more detailed context can potentially tell it considerably more.

Maybe customers keep mentioning that a certain green looks different online. Maybe one product repeatedly comes back with the same damaged component. Maybe a particular size produces an unusual number of returns.

Anna sees that information as useful beyond the return itself, including for questions around sizing and supply chain decisions.

That turns an operational nuisance into something rather more interesting: a feedback loop.

The product comes back, but so does information about why the original journey failed.

And that information can potentially influence decisions long before the next return happens.

A different starting point for reverse logistics

In Article 1, we described reverse logistics as the part of the supply chain that begins once products start coming back.

CIRQUEL pushes that starting point slightly earlier.

The reverse journey can begin before the parcel is collected, because the first useful thing to move doesn’t necessarily have to be the parcel.

It can be information about the parcel.

That distinction sounds small, but it changes the sequence:

Product moves → product is inspected → next step is decided

becomes:

Product is assessed → next step is decided → product moves

There will always be exceptions. Photos cannot answer every question, some products still need physical inspection, and warehouses aren’t about to disappear from the equation.

But the assumption that every decision has to wait until a return physically arrives somewhere is worth questioning.

Because by the time the box reaches the warehouse, it has already taken a route.

The interesting question is whether the brand had enough information to choose the right one.