Operational workflow

Two-day pilot week, intake to restock

The day-to-day picture of how a ReRoute pilot actually runs — the four stages a returned item walks through, the inputs and outputs at each step, and who on the founder team vs. the DTC ops team owns the work in a pilot week. The companion to the unit-cost model on the Pilot economics page.

Pilot-week textbook
4-stage pilot week, executed end to end

Every returned item walks through the same four stages, and a real pilot week is short enough that one operator can hold the whole flow in their head — two-day pilot week from first intake scan to the final restock routing.

Stage 1 — Intake
Intake

PLACEHOLDER — describes how the pilot receives a returned item from the customer (carrier drop, label scan, first-touch triage).

Inputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — physical package handed off by carrier
  • PLACEHOLDER — return label / tracking reference
  • PLACEHOLDER — order context (original SKU, customer note)
Outputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — labelled bin entered into the inspection queue
  • PLACEHOLDER — intake log row (timestamp + operator initial)
Owner this week
Shared

PASSES TO: Inspection — packaged item on the inspection bench.

Stage 2 — Inspection
Inspection

PLACEHOLDER — describes how ReRoute grades condition, photographs the item, and the agent-vs-human split.

Inputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — packaged item from intake
  • PLACEHOLDER — order + customer context
  • PLACEHOLDER — inspection rubric (category-specific)
Outputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — condition grade (A / B / C / unsellable)
  • PLACEHOLDER — photographs filed against the return
  • PLACEHOLDER — structured disposition recommendation
Owner this week
Founder team

PASSES TO: Disposition — graded item with a recommendation in hand.

Stage 3 — Disposition
Disposition

PLACEHOLDER — describes how the final decision is made (restock / return-to-vendor / liquidate / donate) and who signs off.

Inputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — condition grade + photographs from inspection
  • PLACEHOLDER — channel-margin context (restock vs RTV vs liquidate vs donate)
  • PLACEHOLDER — vendor RMA eligibility (where applicable)
Outputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — disposition decision (restock, RTV, liquidate, donate)
  • PLACEHOLDER — customer-facing comms drafted by the agent
  • PLACEHOLDER — ledger entry against the original order
Owner this week
Shared

PASSES TO: Restock — item routed to the right sub-flow.

Stage 4 — Restock
Restock

PLACEHOLDER — describes how the item reaches the chosen sub-flow (back on shelf, into a vendor RTV box, the liquidator pallet, or the donation run).

Inputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — disposition decision from the disposition step
  • PLACEHOLDER — destination sub-flow (shelf / RTV / pallet / donation)
Outputs
  • PLACEHOLDER — item location updated in inventory
  • PLACEHOLDER — closeout entry in the weekly pilot ledger
  • PLACEHOLDER — terminal cycle-time stamp (intake → restock)
Owner this week
DTC ops team

Loop closes — the next return enters intake the same day.

Ownership split
Founder team vs. DTC ops team, in a pilot week

Who owns each sub-step when the pilot is actually running on a partner’s floor — not the build-phase split.

Sub-stepOwnerDetail
Intake triage & label scan
DTC ops team
PLACEHOLDER — the DTC ops floor crew runs intake daily; founder team audits spot-checks weekly.
Inspection rubric + condition grading
Founder team
PLACEHOLDER — founder team owns the rubric + signs off grades until the agent meets an agreed threshold.
Disposition decisioning
Shared
PLACEHOLDER — the agent proposes a disposition; the founder team overrides where the rubric is ambiguous, the DTC ops team owns the customer comms send-out.
Restock routing + weekly ledger
DTC ops team
PLACEHOLDER — DTC ops team owns the final routing + the closeout ledger; founder team reviews the weekly cycle-time rollup.