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The e-commerce logistics market is vast and full of potential. According to recent projections, it is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 22.3% over the next six years. A recent study indicates that the market value could rise from USD 441.55 billion in 2024 to USD 1.9 trillion by 2032.
The pandemic marked the peak of e-commerce growth, as demand for fast, contactless delivery surged and consumer focus shifted from offline to online shopping. Over the past four years, retailers have cultivated consumer trust in marketplaces and online stores. Today, customers buy items like clothing, footwear, and electronics online — products they previously preferred to try in person.
The peak of e-commerce development came during the pandemic, when the popularity of fast, contactless delivery skyrocketed, and consumer focus shifted from offline shopping to online purchases. Over the past four years, retailers have taught customers to trust marketplaces and online stores. Now, people buy clothes, shoes, electronics, and other products online — items they previously preferred to try on and test in person.
Return systems have played a crucial role in making this possible. Consumers can now return unsuitable items in most cases. However, the return process is still quite cumbersome: items need to be packed, taken to a post office or drop-off center, long queues endured, and strict deadlines met.
ReturnQueen is addressing this issue. This startup handles all stages of returns — from packaging to preparing necessary documentation — saving time for busy parents, professionals with packed schedules, and shoppers who prefer to order multiple sizes or colors.
The startup was co-founded by entrepreneur and developer Manu Ajith. In this interview, Manu shares how the service identified an unmet consumer need, how team and hiring strategies evolved during a tenfold team growth, and lessons learned throughout his entrepreneurial journey.
From Local Clients to Partnerships with International Brands
Prior to ReturnQueen, Manu was a CTO at Red Panthers, a consulting company that outsources software development in the Ruby programming language.
In addition to technical tasks, he was responsible for hiring and building the team: looking for aspiring programmers in colleges, teaching them the basic principles and approaches of commercial development, and organizing meetups so that experienced employees could share their experience with newcomers.
Among the Red Panthers’ clients were local businesses in India to global e-commerce and logistics giants. One of key projects was with Senitron, a U.S. company specializing in RFID systems for warehouse tracking. These sensors help retailers prevent theft, reduce losses, and streamline deliveries. We developed a dashboard that consolidated real-time data from all their sensors, making item tracking more efficient. This gave Senitron a competitive edge and helped them attract new clients.
Another notable project was with Click X, a digital marketing platform designed to drive advertising traffic for agencies. For this company Red Panthers developed dashboard for advertisers, allowing them to track ad clicks, views, and conversions in real time. This also gave them the ability to quickly adjust creatives or banners if a campaign wasn’t performing as expected. Additionally, the tool collected channel analytics, which helped optimize budgets for future campaigns.
In 2019, Red Panthers won the Clutch Award in several categories, including Best Client Case. This recognition brought the company more clients from the US, which Manu managed remotely. After two years, he decided to pursue other projects, 9Pieceof8 and ReturnQueen, and gradually exited the company — it still exists today and is run by partner Harisankar.
First Project in the U.S. — 9Pieceof8
9Pieceof8 is a software consulting company that helps clients design and maintain distributed systems using the Elixir and Rust programming languages. It provides consulting to brands across various industries, offering recommendations on how to build applications, maintain them, resolve performance issues, and improve operational speed.
At 9Pieceof8, Manu had the opportunity to shift focus to high-performance applications, unlike at RedPanthers, which primarily dealt with MVPs and small-scale applications.
The startup’s clients include companies from the electronics and banking industries. For instance, together with the startup Wow Media, 9Pieceof8 developed an advertising dashboard and a product listing system for a marketplace that has been thriving in the Danish market for several years.
At Hazy, Manu independently developed a synthetic data generation system, now utilized by major banks to test new features. In this project, he create an MVP that connects to the bank’s database and generates synthetic data for testing without exposing real customer information.
At 9Pieceof8, Manu takes on dual roles as CEO and CTO — forming the team, finding clients, and providing consultations. Simultaneously, he oversees the technological development of ReturnQueen.
How Experience at RedPanthers and 9Pieceof8 Helped Launch ReturnQueen
In both businesses, Manu often created MVPs for client projects — each case started with a limited-functionality version that evolved into a complete product, such as a dashboard, an app, or a marketplace.
This experience enabled him to rapidly build the ReturnQueen app, capitalize on the sharp increase in returns following the e-commerce boom during the pandemic, and attract new clients with a convenient product.
The idea for a personalized concierge service to manage returns came to the company’s co-founders, two busy moms with young children, in 2021. They frequently ordered items for their kids from Amazon and other online retailers. Sometimes, the products didn’t meet their expectations — for example, the color or size was wrong. They had to go to the post office or a drop-off point at Whole Foods, package the items, bring their kids along, and wait in line — a daunting task.
They began searching for services to simplify this process but found none. Retailers were too focused on streamlining purchases and fast delivery, leaving a gap for a user-friendly return service. Even Amazon and smaller companies lacked a solution to make returns convenient.
That’s when Dasya Katz and Daphna Englard, the co-founders of the service, invited Manu to join the project. For four years, they have been developing a service that handles the entire return process. A courier picks up the order from the doorstep, packages it, and the service automatically prepares all necessary documents and sends the item back to the retailer’s warehouse. Users simply wait for their refund to be processed.
Educating the Market About the Problem of Returns
Convincing users that they had a problem requiring a solution was the most challenging task, Manu admits. Potential users of ReturnQueen often didn’t realize how much easier the return process could be. Another challenge was demonstrating that the time buyers spent packing and waiting in lines, even with free shipping, was far more valuable than the cost of ReturnQueen’s services: USD 9 per return or USD 19 for a monthly subscription.
The company worked extensively with media outlets, launched advertising campaigns in densely populated areas, and ensured existing clients were satisfied with the quality of service.
This strategy paid off: in its first two years, ReturnQueen grew by 45–50% annually. Now, its growth rate has accelerated significantly. According to company data, up to 80% of customers who complete a return come back and are willing to recommend the service to friends. This high rate of loyalty and satisfaction inspires the founders and drives business growth/
How an MVP Evolved Into a Service Operating in 22 U.S. States
At launch, ReturnQueen had no competitors, leaving the company without established best practices to emulate. The sole source of development insights was user feedback.
ReturnQueen continuously tested new features to make the app more user-friendly. For example, client feedback led to the development of the service’s signature feature: automatic requests for all order-related documents.
Here’s how it works:
- During app registration, users link their Gmail account, where purchase receipts are stored, along with their Amazon or other retailer accounts.
- When a user selects an item to return, the service assigns a courier and requests the necessary documents from the retailer.
- The service picks up the item, packages it at the warehouse, and ensures it’s returned to the seller on time with all required documentation.
The company also deliberately avoided exclusive partnerships with individual retailers. This independence allows ReturnQueen to work with businesses of all sizes, from giants like Amazon, Walmart, and Target to small local retailers. This flexibility helps the service meet diverse customer needs and expand its operations through partnerships with logistics companies.
Currently, the doorstep return service operates in seven states, while partner-operated locker returns are available in 22 states, with further expansion underway.
The Future of ReturnQueen
One of ReturnQueen’s priorities is expanding its partner network. The company’s mission is to make it as easy as possible for people to return their products to retailers instead of discarding them. ReturnQueen believes this approach can help reduce overproduction and mitigate environmental damage.
Recently, ReturnQueen partnered with PUDOpoint, which operates a vast network of parcel lockers across the United States. This collaboration allows users to drop off items at a locker, and the service takes care of packing, documentation, and delivery to the retailer’s network. This solution is especially beneficial for customers in areas outside the courier service’s reach and for those who prioritize eco-friendly options but want to avoid the inconvenience of waiting in line. The primary goal of the service is to ensure items are returned to retailers rather than thrown away.
At ReturnQueen, they believe this approach could play a crucial role in reducing overproduction, helping businesses manage their inventory more efficiently, and cutting waste. In turn, this contributes to a more sustainable system that minimizes environmental impact and reduces the strain on the planet’s resources.
The startup is also actively exploring additional services, such as refurbishing items accidentally damaged during trials and returned by customers. This step further combats overproduction—why discard an item if it can find a new owner who truly needs it? For ReturnQueen, this approach not only attracts a broader audience but also accelerates growth.
Approach to Hiring
In four years, ReturnQueen has assembled a team of talented professionals driving the service’s growth. Initially, the company consisted of just three co-founders, but the team has since grown tenfold, excluding couriers.
Manu oversees the hiring of technical specialists but fully supports the company’s overarching approach—finding individuals who align with the project’s values and share a similar mindset. For him, combining professionalism and practical experience is the key to building trust, which is indispensable when starting a company from scratch.
Managing Two Startups Simultaneously
According to Manu, the ability to manage two startups comes down to coordinated teamwork. His experience in training new employees and establishing effective communication at Red Panthers taught him how to build trusting relationships with colleagues. He views his team members as professionals in their respective fields, capable of handling tasks of varying complexity.
Additionally, 9Pieceof8 is a relatively small project, and Manu’s role at ReturnQueen is focused on technical tasks such as testing hypotheses and supporting and developing the mobile application.
Three Key Insights for Starting a Business
For Manu, the most important aspect of business is focusing on the customer. He believes that asking people to perform tasks while considering the customer’s perspective is far more effective. This approach encourages team members to think about how they would personally use the service and whether they would recommend it. Such a focus directly impacts product quality.
Manu emphasizes the importance of being goal-oriented. While some people are content participating in processes without achieving tangible outcomes, this mindset doesn’t suit him. Consequently, values such as accountability and results-driven focus are integral to his work.
In all his projects, Manu prioritizes reducing the carbon footprint through route optimization and implementing eco-friendly packaging solutions.
