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Free returns were once a perk to make online purchases more appealing, back when we were still window shopping on the high street before click, click, clicking away at home. Today, free returns become online retailers’ Achilles’ heel.
The numbers are staggering: more than 20% of all online non-food purchases and over half of clothing purchases are returned. The costs of refunds, shipping, processing, and restocking weigh heavily on margins. As online shopping becomes the norm, the global problem only intensifies.
That’s why we’re excited to announce our investment in Back, a next-generation returns solution for e-commerce brands. This phenomenal team is addressing a massive, complex challenge in a market begging for disruption.
Back’s proprietary AI technology enables smarter, real-time return management. It uses a combination of behavioural science, computer vision, and a unique fraud scoring system.
For example:
A loyal, trusted customer might receive an instant refund upon confirming shipment reinforcing their positive experience with the brand.
A high-risk returner may need to provide photos, allowing the item to be verified, or even rerouted before any refund is released.
With these insights, brands can decide whether to restock an item, route it to a secondhand marketplace or donate it. Back transforms returns from a costly burden into a strategic opportunity.
At Ada we like companies that tackle big, seemingly intractable problems, and the scale of the returns problem is vast. In 2025 alone, non-food returns are estimated to be £25.1 billion. Globally, nearly a quarter of online clothing purchases are returned, and almost all retailers offer free returns. But the logistics of shipping, processing and restocking a refund can cost a brand up to a third of a product’s price. And fast fashion sitting in a warehouse loses value quickly. If the brand is able to resell the item, they often fetch 40% less than the original price.
This inefficiency isn’t just financial; it’s also fuelling a climate crisis. It is estimated 22% to 44% of returned apparel products never reach a secondary consumer and one third of all returned clothing bought online ends up being destroyed. This is also a potential PR nightmare for fashion brands.
No one has managed to solve the returns crisis yet. Existing solutions like automatic label printers hardly tackle the scale or complexity of the problem. And meanwhile, customers still expect free returns. This is not going to change.
But Back offers a solution. Their intelligent system uses AI to directly address these challenges and help retailers reduce waste, protect margins, and deliver a better customer experience.
This will be game-changing. E-commerce penetration is still under 20% of all retail globally but that will only increase. So we want to invest into that macroeconomic trend, in a constructive and human way. We think the Back team has what it takes to disrupt and capture incredible value in a huge market opportunity.
The co-founders know this space from every angle, operational, commercial, technical, and strategic. They have years of expertise across logistics, re-commerce, returns and technology.
Dean Townsend has founded, scaled, and exited multiple businesses, including SEKO Logistics Solutions Ltd and Fiscal IOR Ltd, and is known for turning complex global logistics challenges into scalable solutions.
Marc Gross co-founded and exited DutyCalculator.com in 2015, invested in and helped scale SEKO Logistics (exited 2021), and co-founded Fiscal IOR in 2018.
Charlotte Partridge brings rare, first-hand returns expertise, having helped build ReBOUND Returns from its earliest days through to its acquisition in 2022. She has experience in driving retailer adoption and shaping brand strategy.
Giorgio Vitale brings over 10 years of ecommerce returns and re-commerce experience from leading EMEA Business Development at B-Stock Solutions, the world’s largest marketplace for returned and excess inventory.
Dhiren Bathija brings 18+ years of experience in IT, operations strategy, and digital transformation, adding strong technical and strategic capability.
At Ada, we invest in teams with deep sector insight, strong execution, and the conviction to reshape markets. This team demonstrates all of that.
I first met the team through Logistics Labs, an incubator supporting innovative start-ups in tech, logistics, global trade, and e-commerce. The Lab is backed by leading logistics entrepreneurs, including investor Dave Emerson, who scaled SEKO Logistics over two decades before its successful sale in 2023, and Back team members Marc and Dean.