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Chase Teichmann Request an intro
Shoppers add protection at checkout and their return label is covered later, which made the returns product free for retailers.Illustration: a checkout window with an item, a return shipping protection line switched on, the total and a place order button. A dashed arrow runs from the protection line to a parcel whose return label is stamped paid, and a sticker reads free for retailers.CHECKOUTPROTECTIONTOTALPLACE ORDERRETURNPAIDFREE FORRETAILERS
Shoppers add protection at checkout and their return label is covered later, which made the returns product free for retailers.
Protection is bought at checkout and redeemed days later, when the return label is covered. Cart to ReturnGuard; ReturnGuard to Order; Order to Return started; Return started to Label At checkout Days later Cart ReturnGuard Small fee Order Protected Return started Label Covered
Protection is bought at checkout and redeemed days later, when the return label is covered.

Cart add-on

ReturnGuard: return shipping protection

I built nearly all of ReturnGuard, the feature ReturnLogic pivoted its business model around in 2025. Shoppers add return shipping protection at checkout for a small fee, and if they return the item, the label is already paid for.

Company
ReturnLogic
Role
Built nearly all of it: the research spike, the Shopify checkout build, and its monitoring
Period
2025
Stack
Shopify · TypeScript · Node.js · AngularJS · LaunchDarkly · Jest · Docker · ECS · Fargate
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A cart add-on: it was a checkout feature, so here it lives in the cart.

The pivot

Retailers paid for returns on both ends: a monthly subscription to ReturnLogic, and the cost of every return label. With ReturnGuard, ReturnLogic earned a share of every protected order instead, and the returns product became free for retailers. Adoption figures aren’t public.

Offer, track, redeem

My research spike settled three questions before the build.

QuestionWhat I built
Offer itA Shopify checkout UI extension that adds a protection product, at a fee each retailer sets
Track itA Shopify pixel script that records who added protection
Redeem itProtection comes into ReturnLogic with the order, and when the shopper starts a return, the handoff into their return session covers the label

Keeping it earning

Revenue depended on it, so I built health checks and monitoring for the three ways it could break.

  • Protection missingA retailer’s checkout stops offering it.
  • Pixel not firingTracking events stop arriving.
  • Orders not syncingProtected orders don’t reach ReturnLogic.