E-commerce operations · Quality
Product defect investigation
When customers keep reporting the same fault, decide quickly whether to stop selling, find the cause with the supplier and tell every affected customer the same thing. The supplier answers through a shared link, and every decision is recorded on the run.
- Duration: 1 to 4 weeks
- How often: When the same product fault keeps coming back
- Steps: 9 steps
- AI agents: 1 AI agent
- Approvals: 2 approvals
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What changes with this template
Without it
The same fault comes back in returns for weeks before anyone connects the cases.
Faulty stock keeps shipping while people discuss the problem.
The supplier's explanation gets lost in an email thread.
Each customer service agent tells customers something different.
With it
A threshold starts an investigation with the product, batch and fault on one run.
The batch is set aside, and the e-commerce lead decides on the sale first.
The supplier records the cause and corrective action through a shared link.
One approved notice and helpdesk reply go to every affected customer.
The template, step by step
Each step says who does it: someone on your team, an AI agent, or the client through a shared link. An approval keeps every later step locked until it is given.
- Done by your team
- Done by an AI agent
- Done by the client, through a shared link
Starts when
Returns or complaints for one product show the same fault more often than your threshold allows. The quality manager starts a run with the product, batch and fault.
- 1
Log the fault pattern
Day 1Quality manager · Team
Record the product, batch and fault, and how many returns and complaints show it. Email the supplier the product, batch and fault description together with the shared run link.
Checklist
- Returns and helpdesk tickets searched
- Batch or delivery identified
- Fault details and shared link sent to the supplier
Fields to fill in
- Product and SKU (required)
- Batch or delivery date
- Fault description (required)
- Number of reports (required)
- 2
Inspect the stock on hand
Days 1 to 2Warehouse lead · Team
Check a sample from each batch on hand for the fault, and set the affected stock aside while a decision is made.
Checklist
- Sample from each batch checked
- Affected stock set aside
Fields to fill in
- Units checked (required)
- Units with the fault (required)
- Link to the inspection photos
- 3
Decide whether to stop selling
Hidden from the shared linkDay 2E-commerce lead · Team
Read the reports and the inspection, and decide whether to pause the listing, keep selling or recall items already sold.
Checklist
- Safety risk considered
- Stock on hand and on order checked
Fields to fill in
- Stop-sale decision (required)
Approval: The investigation does not continue until the e-commerce lead records the stop-sale decision.
- 4
Report the root cause and corrective action
Weeks 1 to 2Supplier contact · Shared link
Through the shared link, the supplier describes the root cause, lists the affected batches and the corrective action with its date, and shares a link to their test report.
Checklist
- Affected batches listed
- Corrective action dated
Fields to fill in
- Root cause (required)
- Affected batches (required)
- Corrective action and date (required)
- Link to the test report
- 5
Review the supplier's answer
Week 2Quality manager · Team
Check that the root cause explains the fault you saw and that the corrective action prevents it. If the answer is incomplete, mark the run blocked and note what is missing.
Checklist
- Cause explains the fault
- Action prevents a repeat
- Credit or replacement agreed
Fields to fill in
- Credit or replacement agreed
- 6
Draft the customer notice
Week 2Customer notice writer · AI agent
The customer notice writer drafts the message for customers who bought the affected batches: what is wrong, what to do with the product and what you offer, plus a saved reply for the helpdesk.
Fields to fill in
- Draft customer notice (required)
- Draft helpdesk reply (required)
Checked by: The customer service manager corrects and approves the notice in step 7.
- 7
Approve the notice and the remedy
Hidden from the shared linkWeek 2Customer service manager · Team
Correct the notice and the helpdesk reply, confirm the remedy, and approve them.
Checklist
- Facts match the investigation
- Remedy is clear
- Tone fits the risk
Approval: No message goes to customers until the customer service manager approves the notice.
- 8
Contact affected customers
Hidden from the shared linkWeeks 2 to 3Customer service manager · Team
Send the approved notice to customers who bought the affected batches, and answer replies with the approved helpdesk reply.
Checklist
- Customer list taken from the order system
- Notice sent
- Saved reply added to the helpdesk
Fields to fill in
- Customers contacted (required)
- 9
Release, return or write off the stock
Weeks 3 to 4Warehouse lead · Team
Act on the decision: release good stock, send faulty units back to the supplier or write them off, and put the listing live again when it is safe.
Checklist
- Faulty stock sent back or written off
- Good stock released
- Listing live again or removed
Fields to fill in
- Stock outcome (required)
Done when
The cause is known and fixed, affected customers have been contacted, and the stock is back on sale, sent back or written off.
Make it yours. Rename steps, change owners and add checklist items, fields or approvals. The template is a starting point for the way your team works.
The AI agents in this template
An agent only works on its own steps, and a person on your team checks what it did. Anything an agent writes to a connected app waits for approval unless you allow it.
Customer notice writer
Drafts the message to affected customers and the helpdesk reply from the findings on the run.
What it does
- Reads the fault, the stop-sale decision and the supplier's corrective action
- Follows the tone and remedy rules in its step instructions
- Writes the customer notice and a helpdesk reply into its step
- Completes its step, so the customer service manager can check it
Checked by: The customer service manager corrects and approves the notice in step 7.
Questions this template answers
Set a threshold for how many returns or complaints with the same fault start an investigation, and log each case with its batch. Step 1 records the product, batch, fault and number of reports when that threshold is reached.
Look at the reports, a stock inspection and the safety risk together, and let one person decide. Step 3 is an approval gate where the e-commerce lead records the stop-sale decision before the investigation continues.
Ask the supplier the same questions every time: the cause, the affected batches, what changes and by when. In step 4 the supplier answers through a shared link, and in step 5 the quality manager checks the answer and marks the run blocked if it is incomplete.
Send every affected customer the same approved message with a clear remedy. In step 6 an AI agent drafts the notice, step 7 holds it until the customer service manager approves it, and step 8 sends it.
Set the affected batch aside as soon as the fault is confirmed, and decide what happens to it once the cause is known. Step 2 sets the stock aside, and step 9 records whether it is released, sent back to the supplier or written off.
Agree credit or replacement as part of the supplier's corrective action, not after the stock is gone. Step 5 records the credit or replacement agreed, and step 9 records what happened to the faulty stock.
Run this workflow in OKiDO
Set up the steps, owners and approvals once, then start a run for every new case.