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bol. Quest app

Optimizing returns processing with the Quest app.

Bol.com , the largest e-commerce platform in the Netherlands and Belgium, wanted to further digitalize the product returns process at their new warehouse. To streamline workflows, improve product evaluation accuracy, and support sustainability goals, they teamed up with icapps to build a custom Android application: Quest.

The issue

With more than 38 million products and over 13 million customers, Bol.com processes a massive volume of returns daily. To manage this efficiently, they opened a dedicated returns warehouse. However, evaluating the condition of returned products and restocking them quickly proved to be a challenge.

Manual assessments led to inconsistencies, delays, and inefficiencies. Bol.com needed a digital tool to support warehouse operators in making accurate, fast, and objective product evaluations, while ensuring scalability, employee onboarding, and alignment with their sustainability ambitions.

Our solution

To meet this challenge, we developed Quest, a custom Android app built for 22-inch tablets used by warehouse operators.

The app simplifies and streamlines the returns workflow with:

  • A step-by-step interface, guiding operators through each task
  • Extra-large buttons and minimal on-screen text for faster navigation
  • Multilingual support and icon-based guidance
    An objective, repeatable flow for evaluating returned products
  • A scalable foundation that supports smooth onboarding and warehouse growth

The app helps operators quickly determine the best second-life destination for each product, speeding up the back-to-market process and supporting bol.com’s sustainability strategy.

The perfect collaboration

Looking back at previous collaborations, such as the development of the PUP, Pick-Up Point App, we had no doubt that this was also going to be a great project. We love the bol.com way of working, their immediate feedback, and the short lines of communication. In this building process, we worked MVP-wise, which means that we worked towards a Minimum Viable/Valuable Product and focused on fine-tuning along the way. This was a perfect fit for bol.com as the project required a high degree of agility.

Focus on sustainability

The idea behind the app was to accurately evaluate the condition of returned products, improve their condition (if possible) and get as many products back on stock as quickly as possible. Bol.com focused on speeding up the back-to-market process and intends to sustainably give all the products a second life. They needed a digital product to support this process. The product we built helps warehouse operators objectively assess returned products and to determine a suitable and sustainable second life destination for each and every product. Thanks to the app, the back-to-market process is made easier, faster, and more sustainable.

Larger buttons, fewer mistakes

Since speed and efficiency are important when using this app, we enlisted the expertise of our UX designers. They advised us to make the buttons as large as possible and to simplify the number of options per screen. This makes the use of the application a lot smoother and faster and minimizes the chance of making mistakes.

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Speed and efficiency were very important factors for this application, so we decided to use large buttons and one-step screens

Koen Geerinckx UX desinger at icapps

Tested and approved

Before we finalized the building process, our colleague and UI designer, Koen, made a clickable prototype. With this prototype, the operators, who would be using the app in the future, could already test it in their working environment. Since their native language is not always Dutch, we have built a multilingual application, limited the use of actual text, and implemented many icons and visuals to support the process. After testing the prototype, final changes were made to optimize the app and deliver the final result, an app named Quest.

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Bol.com and icapps closely collaborated on this project, which allowed us to meet frequently and make adjustments on the fly. In addition, icapps was able to rapidly deliver new functionality, allowing us to validate the flows with our stakeholders and test features with our end-users, typically within a matter of days of having discussed the features.

Wessel Smit Business Analyst at bol.com

Quest was born

Bol.com had yet to decide on an appropriate name for the application whilst in the process of building it. The name Quest reflects some of the core values underlying the application. It is a Quest to accurately evaluate product conditions and find the most suitable and most sustainable destination for them. In addition, it is a Quest to, whilst in the process of evaluating products, find the right balance between productivity, quality, and costs.

Not your typical app development lifecycle

Bol.com started with a small-scale experiment and managed to further improve and expand the app. We supported the entire journey, adding and adjusting features on the go. Allowing bol.com to process millions of returns in a matter of months. A true success!

We were glad to hear that bol.com intends to work together on future projects, we're eagerly awaiting the next “packages” will be sent our way! 😉

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