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ReturnsCenter application at a glance
Introducing Returns Center
ReturnsCenter is a powerful, easy-to-use, web application that simplifies managing, scheduling, and tracking product returns. With ReturnsCenter you can view and schedule shipments, print shipping labels, get directions to a nearby drop-off location, and much more.
This user's guide describes the basic operation and features of the ReturnsCenter application. It assumes that you are familiar with the hardware platform you will use to access the application (computer, tablet, or smartphone), and the basics of browsing the Internet on your device.
Application layout and navigation
ReturnsCenter is designed to satisfy the needs of today's mobile-first, multi-device user. Its responsive design automatically adjusts to match the capabilities and size of your device's display. The result is a more productive and enjoyable user experience with almost no panning, scrolling, or resizing required.
The subsections below illustrate how this technology works in practice.
Large displays and app navigation:
A device with a large display area, such as a laptop or desktop computer, has lots of horizontal screen space. This allows for a generously sized vertical menu on the left and lots of white space in the application areas as shown below.
Mid-sized displays and app navigation:
A device with a mid-sized display, such as a tablet, offers less horizontal space. As a result, the left-side menu shrinks to leave as much room as possible for the application area. In addition, white space gets squeezed to avoid horizontal scrolling and screen resizing.
Small display format and app navigation:
On a handheld device, horizontal display space is extremely limited. To conserve space, the menu collapses to a horizontal bar along the top of the page. If the device lacks space for the entire application area, only half is shown at any given time. To view the off-screen portion of the application area, swipe horizontally right and left as indicated by the cue icons.
Additional sources of information
In addition to this document, the support information shown in the table below is currently under development and will be available soon.
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Launching the ReturnsCenter application
Accessing the ReturnsCenter application
As a web-based application, ReturnsCenter is accessible through the Internet using a modern web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.
To reach the application's login page, simply point your browser to https://app.returns.io
Since BlueCrest also has a branded login page available, the application can also be reached by pointing your browser to bluecrest.returns.io as well.
Logging in to the application
At the login page, simply enter your email address and password to get started.
- Email Address Field. Enter your email address for access to the application.
- Password Field. Enter your password for access to the application.
- Continue Button. Touch or click the Continue button to submit your user credentials. Note that the Continue button is disabled until a properly formatted email address and a password have been entered.
- Forgot Password Link. If you forget your password, select the Forgot Password link for directions on resetting your password.
- Need an Account Link. If you need access to the application but do not yet have an account, select the Need an Account link for directions on requesting and setting up a new account.
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The Dashboard
Understanding the Dashboard
The Dashboard is the ReturnsCenter application page displayed immediately following login. It can be found as the top link in the menu. The Dashboard page uses small “widgets” to provide real-time information about your inventory, recent shipments, and other returns-related information.
Depending on the application permissions available to you, your Dashboard page may include tabs above the top row of widgets to access additional information.
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User Information
Managing your user profile
My Profile is the page where a user manages data such as their account information, the inventory stocking location(s) they wish to be associated with, and the addresses they ship from.
My Personal Details
This section of the page maintains data required for account access as detailed below:
First Name: The name you prefer we use if contacting you via email or telephone. In the example shown above, the user has entered “Michael”, but could have chosen to enter a nickname such as “Mike” or “Micky”.
Last Name: Your family surname.
Email: Your company email address.
Office Phone: The landline telephone number you use at work. If you primarily use a mobile phone for work, you may leave this field blank.
Mobile Phone: The mobile phone number you use for work. If provided, we may use this number to communicate with you via calls and/or text messages.
If you enter both a business number and a mobile number, please use the radio buttons to identify your primary contact number (office or mobile).
If you entered a mobile number, please use the radio buttons to identify your preferred method of electronic communication (email or text message).
Change Password: Press this button to change your password. Please keep in mind that the strength of a password is primarily a function of its length. It may not seem intuitive, but the primary determining factor in password strength is the total number of characters used. So choosing a long string of easy-to-remember unrelated words such as “correct horse battery orange“ is much more secure than a more difficult to remember (and hard to type) shorter string of random numbers and letters like “Tr0ub4dor&3”.
My Inventory Locations
This section of the page identifies the field stocking locations associated with your account. To view and return inventory from a field stocking location, simply add the location to your list.
- NOTE: You will not be able to view or return inventory until at least one field stocking location is added to your Inventory Locations list.
- Use the Add button to add a location to your list. When a location added to your list its default shipping address is automatically included in your address book as well.
- To remove a location from your list, select the location and press the Remove button. Removing a location from your list will also remove the address associated with the location from your address book.
My Address Book
The address book provides a convenient method for managing the addresses you ship from. As mentioned in the previous section, adding a field stocking location to your My Inventory List automatically loads the default shipping address associated with that location in your address book. If there are other addresses you ship from, you may manually add these addresses to your address book as well.
- To manually add an address, use the Add Address button.
- To edit or remove an address from your address book, use the Edit and Delete links to the right of the address you wish to modify or remove. Note that you cannot remove the default shipping address of a field stocking location associated with your account from your address book. Instead, you must remove the field stocking location from the My Inventory List table.
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Managing Returns
Managing user returns is the primary focus of the ReturnsCenter application. The tasks involved include scheduling shipments, printing labels, tracking previously shipped cartons, and finding nearby drop-off locations. This section describes each of these tasks in detail.
The Schedule Returns page initially appears as shown in the figure above. Scheduling a return is organized into three basic steps:
Step 1 – Choose a Return Type
The first step in the process is identifying the source location for the material you wish to ship. Currently, there are two options as shown below:
My Inventory Locations: This selection shows the inventory available for return from the field stocking locations listed on your My Profile page. Shipping items from an inventory location will decrement that inventory from the location in your company’s ERP system to reflect your shipments.
For information about editing the inventory locations associated with your account, see the Managing your user profile section.
Not in Inventory (“Green Return”): Choose this option to return material that is not listed in one of your inventory locations. For instance, a “found” part.
Step 2 – Select Items and Load Them into Cartons
Once the material’s source location is chosen, the next steps are to select items from that location for return and assign them to shipping cartons. The specific process involved differs depending on the return type selected in Step 1. The process for each return type is described below.
Returnable Inventory (Return Type = My Inventory Locations)
When My Inventory Locations is selected as the source, Step 2 appears as shown above.
Location Filter: Use this field to filter the inventory displayed in the returnable inventory table. To view inventory from another location, use the arrow to display the dropdown menu and select the desired location from the list. If the location you want isn't available in the list, you will need to associate the inventory location with your account. This process is described in Section 3, Managing your user profile.
Returnable Inventory Table: This grid shows the inventory available to schedule for return from the inventory location(s) identified in the Location Filter. By default, the grid is sorted by part number. In the figure above, the grid is sorted by the Status column (notice the arrow symbol in the column header indicating the sort order). To reverse the sort order, click or tap the displayed sort symbol. To sort on another column, simply click or tap the header cell of that column.
Selected Row: Click or tap an unselected row of the grid to select it. Once selected, the row is highlighted in blue as shown above. Clicking or tapping on a selected row unselects it.
View Part Details: Select this button to view detailed information about the selected part (as shown below). To return, select the View Inventory button (#1 below). If any of the details about the part are inaccurate, use the Request a Data Change link (#2 below) to send a message describing the issue.
Add To Shipment:
Select the Add To Shipment button to add parts to a shipping carton as shown above. First, identify the quantity to be loaded in the Add To Carton field (see above #1). Next, select the shipping carton you wish to load parts into (see above #2). Notice that there are several carton icons shown. The meaning of each is as follows:
New Carton: Select this icon to load the part into a new carton.
#1 &8212; Used: The #1 carton cannot be selected (as indicated by the red “X”), since the part being added is new and the material in this carton is used. This is done to avoid confusion between new and used parts during receipt.
#2 — New: The part may be added to this carton. This carton contains material with the same status (new) and does not exceeding the carrier's weight limit.
#3 — New: This carton cannot be selected. While this carton contains new material and is under the maximum carton weight, notice that the icon shows the carton with sealed flaps. The sealed flaps signal that a tracking number has already been generated for the carton, so additional parts cannot be added.
Once a shipping carton is selected, the Add to Shipment form closes and the parts are added to the carton. Returnable Inventory is then again displayed so another part can be selected for return. To return to the returnable inventory list without adding parts to a carton, simply tap or click on the Return To Part List button (see above #3).
Select A Part (Returnable Type = Not In Inventory (“Green Return”))
When Not In Inventory (“Green Return”) is selected as the source, Step 2 instead appears as shown in the figure below.
Refer to the flagged items in the figure above and use the process described below to manually load parts to ship:
Enter a part number in the Part Number field.
Identify the status of the parts as New/Mint or Used/Repairable. If you have both new and used material of the same part number to return, you will need to load the new items and used items separately.
Enter the quantity to be added to a shipping carton in the Add To Carton field.
Select a shipping carton. Note: If the material cannot be loaded into a particular shipping carton without violating a shipping rule, that carton's icon will include a red “X”. This ensures that a) material types are not mixed within the same carton, b) cartons do not exceed the carrier's maximum weight, and c) the material ships to the proper location. Once a shipping carton is selected, the form is ready to load another part number.
Step 3 – Review Cartons and Create Tracking Labels
When the Schedule Returns page is initially loaded, there are no parts scheduled for shipment, so the Shipment Information box is empty as shown below.
Once the user begins loading parts into cartons, the Shipment Information area changes as shown in the figure below:
Shipping Address: Select an address from your address book. This identifies the pick-up / return address for the shipment being created.
Selected Carton Icon: The selected carton is identified by a blue box around the icon. This icon has closed flaps indicating the carton is ready to ship and has a tracking number assigned (orange number). Each icon indicates the carton number (#1), the type of material being shipped (used), the carrier & carton destination (UPS TO XTEC), and the number of items in the carton (“(5)”).
Unselected carton Icon: Unselected cartons are identified by a white background. This icon has open flaps indicating the carton is still available to have additional parts added.
Carton manifest: This grid lists the parts and quantities loaded in the selected carton.
Carton weight: This field identifies the total carton weight. This field initially contains an estimate calculated by the system. The user may modify this value if needed prior to printing a shipping label.
Remove Item From Carton button: Use this button to remove one or more items from a carton (as shown in the figure below). Note that all removed items are returned to your inventory.
- Carton Name. Identifies the carton within the current shipment.
- Qty To Remove. Identify the quantity to remove from each row of the manifest.
- Carton Weight. Shows the estimated weight of the carton.
- Empty Carton checkbox. Check this box to completely empty the carton without having to edit each individual row.
- View Cartons button. Return to the View Cartons form.
- Remove Item(s) button. Once all items to be removed from the carton have been identified, use this button to execute the removal. All inventoried items removed from a carton will be returned to their original inventory location.
- Generate Tracking Number button Once a carton is filled and ready to ship, press this button to generate a tracking number and create a shipment manifest.
Print Labels For Drop Off: This selection generates tracking numbers and carton manifests for the shipment as a PDF file. The user is responsible for carton dropping off.
Print Labels Pick-Up Select this to schedule a carrier pick-up in addition to generating a PDF with your tracking numbers and carton manifests.
Already Have a Tracking Number: Select this option when using a tracking number created outside the ReturnsCenter application.
For assistance locating a nearby drop-off location for a shipment, go to the Drop-Off Locator page. The Drop-Off Locator will help you map your current location and show all the dropoff locations nearby. You can identify your current location in one of two ways:
- Use the Detect My Location button to automatically determine your your address using your devices GPS sensor (if available) or your device's IP address.
Enter your address into the search field to find your address.
- Use the map tools to zoom and pan the map view.
- The blue dot represents your current location.
- The map pins identify drop-off locations. Click on a map pin to see additional information including the street address and distance from your current location.
Note that this page is currently intended only for U.S. based users.
Track Shipments
Use this page to view a history of your shipments. There are four operations available once a shipment is selected in the grid. These operations are controlled by the buttons at the bottom of the page and are described below:
- Void Tracking Number: For shipments that have not yet been picked up by the carrier, you can use the Void Tracking Number button to cancel the shipment. Note that once this application has received notification from the carrier that the shipment has been picked-up, voiding the tracking number is no longer an available option.
- View Shipment Details: To view the manifest information for a shipment, use the View Shipment Details button.
- Send Email: To send an email regarding a shipment, use the Send Email button.
- Print Label and Manifest: Use the Print Label and Manifest button to print a copy of a shipment's tracking number and packing slip. Clicking this button will launch a new tab containing the requested information in a PDF document. This document can be printed or saved like any other PDF. Be aware that once the ReturnsCenter application has received notification from the carrier that a shipment has be picked-up, the PDF file will not include the tracking label. This is to prevent the accidental re-use of tracking labels (reusing old tracking numbers tends to break things).
Reprint Labels
Similar to the Track Shipments page, use this page to view details about shipments and print copies of the tracking label and shipment manifest. Once a shipment is selected in the grid, there are two operations available to the user. These operations are controlled by the buttons at the bottom of the page.
- View Shipment Details: Use this button to view the detailed manifest information for a shipment.
- Print Label and Manifest: Use this button to print a copy of a shipment's tracking number and packing slip. Clicking this button will launch a new tab containing the requested information in a PDF document. This document can be printed or saved like any other PDF. Be aware that once the ReturnsCenter application has received notification from the carrier that a shipment has been picked up, the PDF file will not include the tracking label. This is to prevent the accidental re-use of tracking labels (reusing old tracking numbers tends to break things).
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Reports
The ReturnsCenter application offers a number of reports regarding inventory, cycle counts, metrics, and related data. The specific reports available to you depend on the permissions you have within the ReturnsCenter application. To view a report, select it from the Reports section of the application’s left-side menu. The selected report will open as shown in the below figure.
The filters for the selected report are listed to the left of the report pane in the Report Filters area. Depending on the report, there may be multiple options for filtering the report data. Before a dataset is generated to populate the report, you must identify the filters to be applied. If no filters are selected, the report will return all available data. Be aware that depending on the report, this could result in an extremely long load time and a very high page count. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to filter the report data before viewing a report.
- To view the report output on the screen, press or tap the View Report button.
- To download the report data as an Excel format file, press or tap the Download button.
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Help
Documents
The Documents page lists reference documents in PDF format that are available for viewing and downloading.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
The FAQs page is a compilation of questions and answers for commonly experienced user issues. This Q & A list will grow dynamically as items are identified by users. Simply click or tap a question from the list to view the answer.
Feedback
Use the Feedback page to compose a feedback email to the application development team. We're always looking for opportunities to improve our work. If you have questions, suggestions, or other constructive criticism, we'd love to hear from you!
Tutorials
The Tutorials page provides how-to videos offering instructions on using this application.