Business Profile
Ever-Pretty was founded in 2005 by Anna Shi, who aimed to help women feel confident and joyful during life’s most important moments. The brand offers beautifully tailored dresses designed to flatter every body shape and reflect each woman’s unique style.
Brand: Ever-Pretty
Industry: Apparel
Platform: Shopify Plus
Country: UK
Year Founded: 2005
Employees: 201-500
Usage: Since January 2025
Post-Purchase Pain Points That Stalled Growth
As Ever-Pretty expanded its catalog to include wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, evening wear, prom dresses, and more, its global reach grew to over 100 countries and regions. But with that growth came increasing pressure on post-purchase operations.
1. Delivery Anxiety Undermined the Experience
For brides, receiving their dress on time is non-negotiable, as they’re about to have the most important occasion of their lives.
Made-to-measure gowns from Ever-Pretty typically require 10–14 days of production. Even off-the-rack styles take 48 hours to process, followed by 3–10 business days for shipping. This means that delivery can take over two weeks.
During the wait, customers often become anxious and repeatedly check tracking updates. If tracking information isn’t updated promptly, it creates uncertainty, disrupts the experience, and can lead to unnecessary returns.
2 . Manual Returns Overwhelmed the Support Team
Ever-Pretty offers a 30-day return window. While this flexible policy supports customers, it also places a growing burden on the support team.
Each return request had to be manually reviewed.
Customer service agents were required to communicate with every customer, approve the return, and provide the return address, return label, and shipping instructions.
As the business scaled, this manual process became increasingly inefficient. Labor costs rose, processing times lengthened, and delays caused customers to worry about refunds—all of which impacted customer satisfaction.
3 . Passively Accepting All Return Requests
Ever-Pretty handled return requests passively. There was no reassurance, no incentive for customers to continue shopping, and no win-back strategy. That is to say, a return often meant losing the customer entirely.
However, a first purchase already shows that the brand appealed to the customer. Smart merchants see returns not as the end of the relationship, but as a second chance to earn trust.
How Ever-Pretty Transformed the Post-Purchase Journey
1 . Turn Anxiety into a Brand Touchpoint
91% of shoppers track their orders—often 4 to 6 times per purchase. These frequent check-ins are valuable touchpoints for engaging customers and reinforcing brand perception.
With ParcelPanel Order Tracking, Ever-Pretty:
- Added a branded tracking page for self-service order lookups
- Visualized each stage of the delivery journey for greater clarity
- Sent automated email updates so customers always stayed informed
- Included personalized product recommendations in tracking pages and emails to drive repeat purchases
This not only boosted customer satisfaction and trust but also reduced returns driven by delivery-related anxiety, while creating a more memorable post-purchase experience.
2 . Automating Returns and Exchanges
To free up support agents for higher-priority tasks, Ever-Pretty implemented ParcelPanel Returns & Exchanges to streamline returns management and reduce labor costs.
With ParcelPanel Returns & Exchanges in place, they are able to:
- Offer a self-serve online returns center where customers could submit requests and track progress
- Recommend relevant products within the returns portal to encourage exchanges and reduce revenue loss
- Handle approvals, return label generation, and shipping fee collection in one unified system
- Track every return shipment in real time to ensure faster processing and better visibility
- Leverage analytics to identify the most returned items and uncover patterns for product improvement
This system makes the return process faster, easier, and more scalable, without compromising customer experience.
3. Turning Returns into a Growth Opportunity
Ever-Pretty no longer views returns as the end of the customer journey, but as a chance to reconnect and recover revenue.
By redesigning the return flow, they’ve converted 60–70% of refund requests into new sales by:
- Encouraging shoppers to opt for store credit or gift cards (with a 10% bonus incentive)
- Offering fast, hassle-free exchanges for returns related to size or color
This proactive strategy helped the brand retain more customers, protect margins, and build stronger long-term relationships.
The Results: Turning Post-Purchase into a Revenue Retention Engine
“ParcelPanel made a big difference to our post-purchase experience. Once we implemented both solutions, customers could track their orders and submit return requests on their own — no support needed. Within just a few weeks, WISMO tickets and return-related inquiries dropped significantly.”
Anna Shi, Founder & CEO, Ever-Pretty
These improvements were reflected in the numbers:
- 68% fewer “Where is my order?” inquiries
- 43% fewer return-related questions
More importantly, with ParcelPanel Returns & Exchanges, more customers chose store credit or exchanges instead of requesting refunds. This allowed Ever-Pretty to recover 54% of potential lost sales.
By automating both order tracking and returns, Ever-Pretty not only streamlined support operations but also elevated the post-purchase experience.
As a result, they reduced their return rate and strengthened their competitive position in the market.
Key Takeaways
- Reducing returns isn’t just about recovering lost sales — it’s about redefining the post-purchase journey and creating memorable brand experiences.
- Every touchpoint matters. Whether it’s a tracking page, returns center, or notification email, each interaction is an opportunity to strengthen customer relationships.
- A return doesn’t have to mean losing a customer. It’s a chance to rebuild trust, encourage loyalty, and create another opportunity to convert.
