Description:FIELD OF INVENTION
[0001] The embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to electronic commerce (e-commerce). More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a method and a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.

BACKGROUND
[0002] The following description of the related art is intended to provide background information pertaining to the field of the disclosure. This section may include certain aspects of the art that may be related to various features of the present disclosure. However, it should be appreciated that this section be used only to enhance the understanding of the reader with respect to the present disclosure, and not as admissions of the prior art.
[0003] Generally, an electronic commerce (e-commerce) has been predominating in the market for decades. Consumers may be able to browse a variety of products online, shop according to their preferences, and order products by selecting different delivery options. Customer ease of interaction in a network-connected e-commerce infrastructure, is, however, still a factor that drives the long-term retention of customers on online shopping portals. An optimum fulfillment and routing of customer inquiries, purchase orders, and handling of product return/exchange requests in the context of e-commerce remains a challenge. Consequently, customers often encounter problems such as delay in product delivery, product damage, product faulty, wrong product delivered, prolonged waiting time before the order is processed, inappropriate routing of the customer's requests, and so forth. In one example, customers observing functional or damage issues may initiate returns of their purchased high-value products (such as mobiles, television, white goods, furniture, and the like), due to a high degree of angst. Hence, the customers who have purchased high-value products may often reach out to the respective seller for returning or replacement of the products/high-value products. However, returning or replacing the products without technically assessing the functional/damage issues, as observed by the customer may be expensive for sellers particularly, if the customers are perceiving product features /functionalities as defects.
[0004] Conventionally, some attempts have been made to enhance users' online shopping experience, however, these attempts have generally fallen short of addressing and mitigating the problems specifically mentioned above. However, none of the current online retail transaction systems effectively integrates and addresses all of the aspects of e-commerce, commencing from the customers' navigation, ordering of products, last-mile delivery phase, and post-delivery experience of the customer. As a result, conventional systems and services often under-deliver, with respect to the accuracy, time, or general quality of service. When the customers are not satisfied with the purchase of high-value products, then the customers may raise a repeated request to return the product and go through a high degree of angst when all the return requests are rejected by the e-commerce. The e-commerce may need to consider an end-to-end customer effort and experience during the returns journey for the product, right from the first return request raised to resolving the issues in the product or providing a refund/return/exchange of the product. However, conventional methods may treat all the return requests from the user with a same priority and the end-to-end customer effort and experience may not be considered.
[0005] Currently, all the product return requests are handled with the same priority and resolution speed irrespective of, if the customers have gone through multiple return requests for the same product. Further, the conventional methods may not provide a differential experience to the customers who had experienced a false technician visit, where the technician closes the return request without actually visiting the customer’s premise to resolve the delivered product issues. Further, the conventional methods may not provide a differential experience to the customers who have canceled the return request due to a breach of service promise. Further, the conventional methods may provide a troubleshooting experience only for the customers who have brought mobile and electronic products to the e-commerce platform. Further, the quality of the product/customer ratings/seller ratings for the product may not be considered when analyzing the return request for a product. Further, the conventional methods may not consider the time spent for a customer in pre- and post-technician visits, and the selling price for the product is not considered, as customers remorse increases with the higher value of the product.
[0006] Therefore, there is a need for a method and a system for solving the shortcomings of the conventional methods, by providing a method and a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.

SUMMARY
[0007] This section is provided to introduce certain objects and aspects of the present invention in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify the key features or the scope of the claimed subject matter. In order to overcome at least a few problems associated with the known solutions as provided in the previous section, an object of the present invention is to provide a technique that may be for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.
[0008] It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.
[0009] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for orchestrating faster service technician visits to customer premises by providing day 0 / day 1 speed, for a repeat return requests from the customer.
[0010] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for providing additional troubleshooting steps via the troubleshooting call, for the one or more categories such as a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, an oversized product, and the like.
[0011] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for providing service technician visit details to customers to reduce instances of customers calling the customer care to understand the current status of the return/repeat request.
[0012] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for terminating the return/repeat request for the product only after obtaining a return request closure code from the customer to eliminate false closure of the technician visit ticket by the service technician.
[0013] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for providing a differential experience for customers who have experienced service promise breaches and canceled the request due to breach.
[0014] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for determining the breach and an extent of the breach, based on calls closed post service promise date. The breach is determined for both completed and canceled repeat return requests.
[0015] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting call or the technician visit, by determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, by determining a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request, a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the ticket, a cumulated time taken for creating the ticket, a cumulated time taken for termination of the ticket, a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous return request, and the like.
[0016] It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting calls or the technician visit, by determining the selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past, a measure of a product quality, and the like.
[0017] In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a method for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The method includes receiving a repeat return request from a user for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The repeat return request from the user is received when the user perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues. Further, the method includes initiating a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user to the user, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. The troubleshooting call is initiated one time. Furthermore, the method includes determining, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call. The second return request is a subsequent repeat return request. Additionally, the method includes creating a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request. Further, the method includes creating a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician to visit the same day or next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the second repeat return request. Furthermore, the method includes receiving, from the service technician, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request. Additionally, the method includes terminating the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product.
[0018] In an embodiment, creating the first ticket and the second ticket, the method further includes determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot. For determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, the method further includes determining a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request for the at least one product based on a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician visit, a cumulated time taken for creating the first ticket or the second ticket to termination of the first ticket or the second ticket, a cumulated time taken for termination of the first ticket or the second ticket to product return completion, and a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous return request.
[0019] In an embodiment, the method further includes determining, if at least one of, the service technician visit has breached a promise date and if cancellation of the repeat return request is induced due to a breach of the service promise. Further, the method includes providing faster resolution for the repeat return request, based on the determination.
[0020] In an embodiment, the breach and an extent of a breach are determined based on calls closed post service promise date. The breach is determined for both completed and canceled repeat return requests.
[0021] In an embodiment, the method further includes determining at least one of a selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past. Further, the method includes measuring a product quality of the at least one product. Furthermore, the method includes creating the first return ticket or the second repeat return ticket, based on the product quality.
[0022] In an embodiment, creating the first ticket or the second ticket further includes providing to the user, details of the service technician.
[0023] In an embodiment, the first ticket or the second ticket is terminated based on providing a closure code by the user to the service technician.
[0024] In an embodiment, the one or more categories comprise at least one of a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, and an oversized product.
[0025] In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The system receives a repeat return request from a user for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The repeat return request from the user is received when the user perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues. Further, the system initiates a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user to the user, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. The troubleshooting call is initiated for one time. Further, the system determines, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call. The second repeat return request is a subsequent repeat return request. Furthermore, the system creates a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request. Additionally, the system creates a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician to visit the same day or the next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received repeat return request corresponds to the second repeat return request. Further, the system receives, from the service technician, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request. Furthermore, the system terminates the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS
[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein, and constitute a part of this invention, illustrate exemplary embodiments of the disclosed methods and systems in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different drawings. Components in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present invention. Some drawings may indicate the components using block diagrams and may not represent the internal circuitry/sub-components of each component. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention of such drawings includes the invention of electrical components, electronic components, or circuitry commonly used to implement such components.
[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a network architecture implementing a proposed system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0028] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary detailed block diagram representation of the proposed system, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0029] FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary flow diagram representation of a method for addressing issues that arise when a customer raises multiple returns requests for any perceived functional defects of high-value products, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0030] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method of managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware platform for the implementation of the disclosed system according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0032] The foregoing shall be more apparent from the following more detailed description of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION
[0033] In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, various specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that embodiments of the present disclosure may be practiced without these specific details. Several features described hereafter can each be used independently of one another or with any combination of other features. An individual feature may not address all of the problems discussed above or might address only some of the problems discussed above. Some of the problems discussed above might not be fully addressed by any of the features described herein.
[0034] The ensuing description provides exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the disclosure. Rather, the ensuing description of the exemplary embodiments will provide those skilled in the art with an enabling description for implementing an exemplary embodiment. It should be understood that, various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth.
[0035] Specific details are given in the following description to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in block diagram form in order not to obscure the embodiments in unnecessary detail. In other instances, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.
[0036] Also, it is noted that individual embodiments may be described as a process which is depicted as a flowchart, a flow diagram, a data flow diagram, a structure diagram, or a block diagram. Although a flowchart may describe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operations can be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order of the operations may be re-arranged. A process is terminated when its operations are completed but could have additional steps not included in a figure. A process may correspond to a method, a function, a procedure, a subroutine, a subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination can correspond to a return of the function to the calling function or the main function.
[0037] The word “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matter disclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” and/or “demonstrative” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplary structures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, to the extent that the terms “includes,” “has,” “contains,” and other similar words are used in either the detailed description or the claims, such terms are intended to be inclusive—in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as an open transition word—without precluding any additional or other elements.
[0038] As used herein, "connect", "configure", "couple" and its cognate terms, such as "connects", "connected", "configured", and "coupled" may include a physical connection (such as a wired/wireless connection), a logical connection (such as through logical gates of semiconducting device), other suitable connections, or a combination of such connections, as may be obvious to a skilled person.
[0039] As used herein, "send", "transfer", "transmit", and their cognate terms like "sending", "sent", "transferring", "transmitting", "transferred", "transmitted", etc. include sending or transporting data or information from one unit or component to another unit or component, wherein the content may or may not be modified before or after sending, transferring, transmitting.
[0040] Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” or “an instance” or “one instance” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment” or “in an embodiment” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.
[0041] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed products.
[0042] Various embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method and a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for orchestrating faster service technician visits to customer premises by providing day 0 / day 1 speed, for repeat return requests from the customer. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing additional troubleshooting steps via the troubleshooting call, for one or more categories such as high-value products, a large appliance, a large furniture, an oversized product, and the like. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing service technician visit details to customers to reduce instances of customers calling the customer care to understand the current status of the return/repeat request. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for terminating the return/repeat request for the product only after obtaining the return request closure code from the customer to eliminate false closure of the technician visit ticket by the service technician.
[0043] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing a differential experience for customers who have experienced service promise breaches and canceled the request due to breach. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for determining the breach and an extent of the breach, based on calls closed post service promise date. The breach is determined for both completed and canceled repeat return requests. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting call or the technician visit, by determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, by determining a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request, a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the ticket, a cumulated time taken for creating the ticket, a cumulated time taken for termination of the ticket, a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous return request, and the like. The present disclosure provides a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting calls or the technician visit, by determining the selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past, a measure of a product quality, and the like.
[0044] FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary block diagram representation of a network architecture 100 implementing a proposed system 110 for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The network architecture 100 may include the system 110, an electronic device 108, and a centralized server 118. The system 110 may be connected to the centralized server 118 via a communication network 106. The centralized server 118 may include, but is not limited to, a stand-alone server, a remote server, a cloud computing server, a dedicated server, a rack server, a server blade, a server rack, a bank of servers, a server farm, hardware supporting a part of a cloud service or system, a home server, hardware running a virtualized server, one or more processors executing code to function as a server, one or more machines performing server-side functionality as described herein, at least a portion of any of the above, some combination thereof, and the like. The centralized server 118 may be associated with an entity corresponding to the e-commerce environment. The communication network 106 may be a wired communication network or a wireless communication network. The wireless communication network may be any wireless communication network capable of transferring data between entities of that network such as, but is not limited to, a Bluetooth, a Zigbee, a Near Field Communication (NFC), a Wireless-Fidelity (Wi-Fi), a Light Fidelity (Li-FI), a carrier network including a circuit-switched network, a public switched network, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) network, a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, a New Radio (NR), a Narrow-Band (NB), an Internet of Things (IoT) network, a Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) network and a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) network, an Internet, intranets, Local Area Networks (LANs), Wide Area Networks (WANs), mobile communication networks, combinations thereof, and the like.
[0045] The system 110 may be implemented by way of a single device or a combination of multiple devices that may be operatively connected or networked together. For example, the system 110 may be implemented by way of a standalone device such as the centralized server 118, and the like, and may be communicatively coupled to the electronic device 108. In another example, the system 110 may be implemented in/ associated with the electronic device 108. In yet another example, the system 110 may be implemented in/ associated with respective computing device 104-1, 104-2, …..., 104-N (individually referred to as the computing device 104, and collectively referred to as the computing devices 104), associated with one or more user 102-1, 102-2, …..., 102-N (individually referred to as the user 102, and collectively referred to as the users 102). In such a scenario, the system 110 may be replicated in each of the computing devices 104. The users 102 may be a user of, but are not limited to, an electronic commerce (e-commerce) platform, a hyperlocal platform, a super-mart platform, a media platform, a service providing platform, a social networking platform, a messaging platform, a bot processing platform, a virtual assistance platform, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) based platform, a blockchain platform, a blockchain marketplace, and the like. In some instances, the user 102 may correspond to an entity/administrator of platforms/services.
[0046] The electronic device 108 may be at least one of, an electrical, an electronic, an electromechanical, and a computing device. The electronic device 108 may include, but is not limited to, a mobile device, a smart-phone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a tablet computer, a phablet computer, a wearable computing device, a Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) device, a laptop, a desktop, a server, and the like. The system 110 may be implemented in hardware or a suitable combination of hardware and software. The system 110 or the centralized server 118 may be associated with entities (not shown). The entities may include, but are not limited to, an e-commerce company, a company, an outlet, a manufacturing unit, an enterprise, a facility, an organization, an educational institution, a secured facility, a warehouse facility, a supply chain facility, and the like.
[0047] Further, the system 110 may include a processor 112, an Input/Output (I/O) interface 114, and a memory 116. The Input/Output (I/O) interface 114 of the system 110 may be used to receive user inputs, from the computing devices 104 associated with the users 102. Further, system 110 may also include other units such as a display unit, an input unit, an output unit, and the like, however the same are not shown in FIG. 1, for the purpose of clarity. Also, in FIG. 1 only a few units are shown, however, the system 110 or the network architecture 100 may include multiple such units or the system 110/ network architecture 100 may include any such numbers of the units, obvious to a person skilled in the art or as required to implement the features of the present disclosure. The system 110 may be a hardware device including the processor 112 executing machine-readable program instructions to manage repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.
[0048] Execution of the machine-readable program instructions by the processor 112 may enable the proposed system 110 to manage repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The “hardware” may comprise a combination of discrete components, an integrated circuit, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field-programmable gate array, a digital signal processor, or other suitable hardware. The “software” may comprise one or more objects, agents, threads, lines of code, subroutines, separate software applications, two or more lines of code, or other suitable software structures operating in one or more software applications or on one or more processors. The processor 112 may include, for example, but is not limited to, microprocessors, microcomputers, microcontrollers, digital signal processors, central processing units, state machines, logic circuits, and any devices that manipulate data or signals based on operational instructions, and the like. Among other capabilities, the processor 112 may fetch and execute computer-readable instructions in the memory 116 operationally coupled with the system 110 for performing tasks such as data processing, input/output processing, feature extraction, and/or any other functions. Any reference to a task in the present disclosure may refer to an operation being or that may be performed on data.
[0049] In the example that follows, assume that a user 102 of the system 110 desires to improve/add additional features for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. In this instance, the user 102 may include an administrator of a website, an administrator of an e-commerce site, an administrator of a social media site, an administrator of an e-commerce application/ social media application/other applications, an administrator of media content (e.g., television content, video-on-demand content, online video content, graphical content, image content, augmented/virtual reality content, metaverse content), an administrator of supply chain platform, an administrator of blockchain marketplace, among other examples, and the like. The system 110 when associated with the electronic device 108 or the centralized server 118 may include, but is not limited to, a touch panel, a soft keypad, a hard keypad (including buttons), and the like.
[0050] In an embodiment, the system 110 may receive a repeat return request from a user 102 for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. In an embodiment, the repeat return request from the user 102 may be received when the user perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues.
[0051] In an embodiment, the system 110 may initiate a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user (e.g., user 102) to the user 102, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. In an embodiment, the troubleshooting call may be initiated for one time. In an embodiment, the one or more categories include, but are not limited to, a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, an oversized product, and the like.
[0052] In an embodiment, the system 110 may determine, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call. In an embodiment, the second repeat return request may be a subsequent repeat return request from the user 102.
[0053] In an embodiment, the system 110 may create a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician (e.g., user 102) to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request.
[0054] In an embodiment, the system 110 may create a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician 102 to visit the same day or the next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received repeat return request corresponds to the second repeat return request. In an embodiment, for creating the first ticket and the second ticket, the system 110 may determine the best available slot and the immediately available slot. In an embodiment, for determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, the system 110 may determine a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request for the at least one product based on:
-a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician visit.
-a cumulated time taken for creating the first ticket or the second ticket to termination of the first ticket or the second ticket.
-a cumulated time taken for termination of the first ticket or the second ticket to product return completion.
-a, return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous repeat return request.
[0055] In an embodiment, for creating the first ticket or the second ticket, the system 110 may provide to the user, with details of the service technician.
[0056] In an embodiment, the system 110 may receive, from the service technician 102, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request.
[0057] In an embodiment, the system 110 may terminate the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product. In an embodiment, the first ticket or the second ticket may be terminated based on providing a closure code by the user 102 to the service technician 102.
[0058] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further determine, if at least one of, the service technician visit has breached a promise date and if cancellation of the repeat return request is induced due to a breach of the service promise. In an embodiment, the system 110 may provide faster resolution to the user 102, for the repeat return request, based on the determination. In an embodiment, the breach and an extent of the breach is determined by the system 110 based on calls closed post service promise date. In an embodiment, the breach is determined by the system 110, for both completed and canceled repeat return requests.
[0059] In an embodiment, the system 110 may further determine at least one of a selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past. In an embodiment, the system 110 may measure a product quality of at least one product. In an embodiment, the system 110 may create the first return ticket or the second repeat return ticket, based on the product quality.
[0060] FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary detailed block diagram representation of the proposed system 110, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. The system 110 may include the processor 112, the Input/Output (I/O) interface 114, and the memory 116. In some implementations, the system 110 may include data 202, and modules 204. As an example, the data 202 may be stored in the memory 116 configured in the system 110 as shown in FIG. 2.
[0061] In an embodiment, the data 202 may include request data 206, troubleshooting data 208, functional issues data 210, ticket data 212, technician data 214, assessment data 216, and other data 218. In an embodiment, the data 202 may be stored in the memory 116 in the form of various data structures. Additionally, the data 202 can be organized using data models, such as relational or hierarchical data models. The other data 218 may store data, including temporary data and temporary files, generated by the modules 204 for performing the various functions of the system 110.
[0062] In an embodiment, the modules 204, may include a receiving module 222, an initiating module 224, a determining module 226, a creating module 228, a terminating module 230, and other modules 232.
[0063] In an embodiment, the data 202 stored in the memory 116 may be processed by the modules 204 of the system 110. The modules 204 may be stored within the memory 116. In an example, the modules 204 communicatively coupled to the processor 112 configured in the system 110, may also be present outside the memory 116, as shown in FIG. 2, and implemented as hardware. As used herein, the term modules refer to an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group) and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that provide the described functionality.
[0064] In an embodiment, the receiving module 222 may receive a repeat return request from the user 102 for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. In an embodiment, the repeat return request from the user 102 may be received when the user perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues.
[0065] In an embodiment, the initiating module 224 may initiate a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user (e.g., user 102) to the user 102, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. In an embodiment, the troubleshooting call may be initiated for one time. In an embodiment, the one or more categories include, but are not limited to, a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, an oversized product, and the like.
[0066] In an embodiment, the determining module 226 may determine, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call. In an embodiment, the second repeat return request may be a subsequent repeat return request from the user 102.
[0067] In an embodiment, the creating module 228 may create a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician (e.g., user 102) to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request.
[0068] In an embodiment, the creating module 228 may create a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician 102 to visit the same day or the next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received repeat return request corresponds to the second repeat return request. In an embodiment, for creating the first ticket and the second ticket, the determining module 226 may determine the best available slot and the immediately available slot. In an embodiment, for determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, the determining module 226 may determine a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request for the at least one product based on:
-a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician visit.
-a cumulated time taken for creating the first ticket or the second ticket to termination of the first ticket or the second ticket.
-a cumulated time taken for termination of the first ticket or the second ticket to product return completion.
-a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous repeat return request.
[0069] In an embodiment, for creating the first ticket or the second ticket, the system 110 may provide to the user, with details of the service technician.
[0070] In an embodiment, the receiving module 222 may receive, from the service technician 102, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request.
[0071] In an embodiment, the terminating module 230 may terminate the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product. In an embodiment, the first ticket or the second ticket may be terminated based on providing a closure code by the user 102 to the service technician 102.
[0072] In an embodiment, the determining module 226 may further determine, if at least one of, the service technician visit has breached a promise date and if cancellation of the repeat return request is induced due to a breach of the service promise. In an embodiment, the system 110 may provide faster resolution to the user 102, for the repeat return request, based on the determination. In an embodiment, the determining module 226 may determine breach and an extent of breach based on calls closed post service promise date. In an embodiment, the determining module 226 may determine breach for both completed and canceled repeat return requests.
[0073] In an embodiment, the determining module 226 may further determine at least one of a selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past. In an embodiment, the system 110 may measure a product quality of the at least one product. In an embodiment, the creating module 228 may create the first return ticket or the second repeat return ticket, based on the product quality.
Exemplary scenario:
[0074] Consider a scenario, where a customer raises multiple returns requests in the e-commerce environment, for any perceived functional defects of high-value products. The multiple returns requests may be addressed and issues are resolved as shown in a flow diagram of FIG. 3.
[0075] At step 302, a method 300 includes receiving, by the processor 112, a return request from a customer 102, when the customer 102 raises any functional issue with certain product categories. The processor 112 creates a return ticket, upon receiving the return request.
[0076] At step 304, the method 300 includes initiating, by the processor 112, a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user to the user 102, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. The troubleshooting call is initiated for one time.
[0077] At step 306, the method 300 includes determining, by the processor 112, if the one or more functional issues are resolved during the troubleshooting call.
[0078] At step 308, the method 300 includes, terminating, by the processor 112, the created return ticket, when the one or more functional issues are resolved during the troubleshooting call.
[0079] At step 310, the method 300 includes, creating a technician visit ticket for a service technician to visit the customer premises, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the troubleshooting call. The processor 112 assigns a qualified service technician to visit the customer’s premise and evaluate the product. The intent of the service technician visit is to independently assess the issues in the product, and provide the right solution to the customer 102. The service technicians visiting the customer’s premises are well trained and are equipped with Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to evaluate the product. When issues are found with the product, the service technician approves the return request which results in either product being replaced or a refund amount being triggered to the customer. However, when no issues are found in the product, then the service technician explains that there are no issues in the product, to the customer and rejects the return request/technician visit ticket raised by the customer. Further, the customers 102 may often raise repeated return requests when the return request is rejected in the first service technician visit.
[0080] At step 312, the method 300 includes determining, by the processor 112, if the return request corresponds to a repeat return request for the same product.
[0081] At step 314, the method 300 includes prioritizing, by the processor 112, the technician visit ticket to the same day (day 0), to the service technician to visit the customer premises on the same day, when the return request corresponds to the repeat return request for the same product.
[0082] At step 316, the method 300 includes providing, by the processor 112, a best available slot for the technician visit ticket to the service technician to visit the customer premises based on the ground capacity of available service technicians, when the return request does not correspond to the repeat return request for the same product.
[0083] At step 318, the method 300 includes assigning, by the processor 112, the service technician to visit the customer premises, and notifying the service technician details to the customer.
[0084] At step 320, the method 300 includes receiving, by the processor 112, assessment information from the service technician, after visiting the customer premises and inspecting the issues in the product, or the return request/repeat return request is rejected by the service technician, when the issues in the product are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
[0085] At step 322, the method 300 includes receiving, by the processor 112, from the computing device 104 associated with the service technician 102, a visit closure code, which was obtained from the customer 102, to close the return/repeat return request.
[0086] FIG. 4 illustrates a flow chart depicting a method 400 of managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, according to embodiments of the present disclosure.
[0087] At block 402, the method 400 includes receiving, by the processor 112 associated with the system 110, a repeat return request from a user 102 for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment. The repeat return request from the user may be received when the user perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues.
[0088] At block 404, the method 400 includes initiating, by the processor 112, a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user to the user, when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues. The troubleshooting call is initiated for one time.
[0089] At block 406, the method 400 includes determining, by the processor 112, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call. The second return request is a subsequent repeat return request.
[0090] At block 408, the method 400 includes creating, by the processor 112, a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request.
[0091] At block 410, the method 400 includes creating, by the processor 112, a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician to visit the same day or next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the second repeat return request.
[0092] At block 412, the method 400 includes receiving, by the processor 112, from the service technician, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request.
[0093] At block 414, the method 400 includes terminating, by the processor 112, the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product.
[0094] The order in which the method 400 is described is not intended to be construed as a limitation, and any number of the described method blocks may be combined or otherwise performed in any order to implement the method 400 or an alternate method. Additionally, individual blocks may be deleted from the method 400 without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure described herein. Furthermore, the method 400 may be implemented in any suitable hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof, that exists in the related art or that is later developed. The method 400 describes, without limitation, the implementation of the system 110. A person of skill in the art will understand that method 400 may be modified appropriately for implementation in various manners without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.
[0095] FIG. 5 illustrates a hardware platform 500 for implementation of the disclosed system 110, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure. For the sake of brevity, the construction, and operational features of the system 110 which are explained in detail above are not explained in detail herein. Particularly, computing machines such as but not limited to internal/external server clusters, quantum computers, desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, and wearables which may be used to execute the system 110 or may include the structure of the hardware platform 500. As illustrated, the hardware platform 500 may include additional components not shown, and that some of the components described may be removed and/or modified. For example, a computer system with multiple GPUs may be located on external-cloud platforms including Amazon® Web Services, or internal corporate cloud computing clusters, or organizational computing resources, and the like.
[0096] The hardware platform 500 may be a computer system such as the system 110 that may be used with the embodiments described herein. The computer system may represent a computational platform that includes components that may be in a server or another computer system. The computer system may execute, by the processor 505 (e.g., a single or multiple processors) or other hardware processing circuit, the methods, functions, and other processes described herein. These methods, functions, and other processes may be embodied as machine-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, which may be non-transitory, such as hardware storage devices (e.g., RAM (random access memory), ROM (read-only memory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electrically erasable, programmable ROM), hard drives, and flash memory). The computer system may include the processor 505 that executes software instructions or code stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium 510 to perform methods of the present disclosure. The software code includes, for example, instructions to gather data and documents and analyze documents. In an example, the modules 204, may be software codes or components performing these steps.
[0097] The instructions on the computer-readable storage medium 510 are read and stored the instructions in storage 515 or in random access memory (RAM). The storage 515 may provide a space for keeping static data where at least some instructions could be stored for later execution. The stored instructions may be further compiled to generate other representations of the instructions and dynamically stored in the RAM such as RAM 520. The processor 505 may read instructions from the RAM 520 and perform actions as instructed.
[0098] The computer system may further include the output device 525 to provide at least some of the results of the execution as output including, but not limited to, visual information to users, such as external agents. The output device 525 may include a display on computing devices and virtual reality glasses. For example, the display may be a mobile phone screen or a laptop screen. GUIs and/or text may be presented as an output on the display screen. The computer system may further include an input device 530 to provide a user or another device with mechanisms for entering data and/or otherwise interacting with the computer system. The input device 530 may include, for example, a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, or a touchscreen. Each of these output devices 525 and input device 530 may be joined by one or more additional peripherals. For example, the output device 525 may be used to display the results such as bot responses by the executable chatbot.
[0099] A network communicator 535 may be provided to connect the computer system to a network and in turn to other devices connected to the network including other clients, servers, data stores, and interfaces, for instance. A network communicator 535 may include, for example, a network adapter such as a LAN adapter or a wireless adapter. The computer system may include a data sources interface 540 to access the data source 545. The data source 545 may be an information resource. As an example, a database of exceptions and rules may be provided as the data source 545. Moreover, knowledge repositories and curated data may be other examples of the data source 545.
[00100] While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many embodiments can be made and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiments without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other changes in the preferred embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be implemented merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE
[00101] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment.
[00102] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for orchestrating faster service technician visits to customer premises by providing day 0 / day 1 speed, for repeat return requests from the customer.
[00103] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing additional troubleshooting steps via the trouble shooting call, for the one or more categories such as high-value products, a large appliance, a large furniture, an oversized product, and the like.
[00104] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing service technician visit details to customers to reduce instances of customers calling the customer care to understand the current status of the return/repeat request.
[00105] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for terminating the return/repeat request for the product only after obtaining the return request closure code from the customer to eliminate false closure of the technician visit ticket by the service technician.
[00106] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for providing a differential experience for customers who have experienced service promise breaches and canceled the request due to breach.
[00107] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for determining the breach and an extent of the breach, based on calls closed post service promise date. The breach is determined for both completed and canceled repeat return requests.
[00108] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting call or the technician visit, by determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, by determining a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request, a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to the creation of the ticket, a cumulated time taken for creating the ticket, a cumulated time taken for termination of the ticket, a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user, based on the time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous return request, and the like.
[00109] The present disclosure provides a method and a system for creating a ticket for troubleshooting calls or the technician visit, by determining the selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past, a measure of a product quality, and the like.
 
, Claims:1. A method for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, the method comprising:
receiving, by a processor (112) associated with a system (110), a repeat return request from a user (102) for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, wherein the repeat return request from the user (102) is received when the user (102) perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues;
initiating, by the processor (112), a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user (102) to the user (102), when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues, wherein the troubleshooting call is initiated for one time;
determining, by the processor (112), if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call, wherein the second return request is a subsequent repeat return request;
creating, by the processor (112), a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request;
creating, by the processor (112), a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician to visit same day or next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the second repeat return request;
receiving, by the processor (112), from the service technician, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request; and
terminating, by the processor (112), the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product.
2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein creating the first ticket and the second ticket further comprises determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, wherein determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot further comprises:
determining, by the processor (112), a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request for the at least one product based on:
a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to creation of the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician visit;
a cumulated time taken for creating the first ticket or the second ticket to termination of the first ticket or the second ticket;
a cumulated time taken for termination of the first ticket or the second ticket to product return completion; and
a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user (102), based on time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous return request.
3. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:
determining, by the processor (112), if at least one of, the service technician visit has breached a promise date and cancellation of the repeat return request is induced due to breach of the service promise; and
providing, by the processor (112), faster resolution for the repeat return request, based on the determination.
4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the breach and an extent of breach is determined based on calls closed post service promise date, and wherein the breach is determined for both completed and canceled repeat return request.
5. The method as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:
determining, by the processor (112), at least one of a selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past;
measuring, by the processor (112), a product quality of the at least one product; and
creating, by the processor (112), the first return ticket or the second repeat return ticket, based on the product quality.
6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein creating the first ticket or the second ticket further comprises providing, by the processor (112), to the user (102), details of the service technician.
7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first ticket or the second ticket is terminated based on providing a closure code by the user (102) to the service technician.
8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the one or more categories comprises at least one of a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, and an oversized product.
9. A system (110) for managing repeat return requests in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, the system (110) comprising:
a processor (112); and
a memory (116) coupled to the processor (112), wherein the memory (116) comprises processor-executable instructions, which on execution, cause the processor (112) to:
receive a repeat return request from a user (102) for at least one product purchased in an electronic commerce (e-commerce) environment, wherein the repeat return request from the user (102) is received when the user (102) perceives that the at least one product has one or more functional issues;
initiate a troubleshooting call for providing one or more troubleshooting instructions corresponding to the at least one product, by an executive user (102) to the user (102), when the at least one product corresponds to one or more categories and the at least one product has the one or more functional issues, wherein the troubleshooting call is initiated for one time;
determine, if the received return request corresponds to a first return request or a second repeat return request, when the one or more functional issues are not resolved during the initiated troubleshooting call, wherein the second repeat return request is a subsequent repeat return request;
create a first ticket with a best available slot for a service technician to visit a delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received return request corresponds to the first return request;
create a second ticket with an immediately available slot for the service technician to visit same day or next day on priority to the delivery address associated with the at least one product, when the received repeat return request corresponds to the second repeat return request;
receive, from the service technician, assessment information along with an accept message or a reject message corresponding to the repeat return request; and
terminate the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician, upon receiving the information along with an accept message or a reject message, and the one or more functional issues are resolved as per Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) of the at least one product.
10. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein for creating the first ticket and the second ticket, the processor (112) determines the best available slot and the immediately available slot, wherein for determining the best available slot and the immediately available slot, the processor (112) is further configured to:
determine a time taken to process and serve the repeat return request for the at least one product based on:
a cumulated time taken for the repeat return request raised to creation of the first ticket or the second ticket for the service technician visit;
a cumulated time taken for creating the first ticket or the second ticket to termination of the first ticket or the second ticket;
a cumulated time taken for termination of the first ticket or the second ticket to product return completion; and
a return request Turn Around Time (TAT) of the user (102), based on time taken to raise a new repeat return request after completion of a previous repeat return request.
11. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processor (112) is further configured to:
determine, if at least one of, the service technician visit has breached a promise date and cancellation of the repeat return request is induced due to breach of the service promise; and
provide faster resolution for the repeat return request, based on the determination.
12. The system (110) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the breach and an extent of breach is determined by the processor (112) based on calls closed post service promise date, and wherein the breach is determined by the processor (112), for both completed and canceled repeat return request.
13. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the processor (112) is further configured to:
determine at least one of a selling price of the product, a seller quality score, a product rating, and a number of return requests raised in the past;
measure a product quality of the at least one product; and
create the first return ticket or the second repeat return ticket, based on the product quality.
14. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein for creating the first ticket or the second ticket, the processor (112) is further configured to provide to the user (102), details of the service technician.
15. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the first ticket or the second ticket is terminated based on providing a closure code by the user (102) to the service technician.

16. The system (110) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the one or more categories comprises at least one of a high-value product, a large appliance, a large furniture, and an oversized product.