What this usually looks like
Lost and found rarely shows up as a line item. It shows up as a front desk answering the same call twice, a security officer searching a shelf while a guest waits on hold, a manager writing replies from a shared inbox, and postage paid out of a petty cash drawer.
Ask your team how many lost item calls, emails and walk-ups they handle in a week, and how long each one takes. A few items a day still comes with a steady stream of guests asking about them.
Low volume has its own risk: items are easy to forget. A notebook entry nobody checks again is a guest who never hears back.
How Boomerang handles it
- Matching runs the moment an item is logged or a claim comes in, day and night, so nobody has to remember to look.
- Guests get automatic updates at every step, 15+ emails per claim on average, and answer staff questions in their own account instead of calling. Across partners, Boomerang sends upwards of 300,000 emails a month.
- A light workflow fits low volume. Staff log items later in the day from a photo or a short description, and AI writes the title and category.
- Digitizing lost and found typically lifts claim volume 1.5 to 2x+, because guests who would never have called now file a claim.
- Guests pay their own shipping at discounted carrier rates, and partners on average earn back upwards of 25% of their annual contract value every year through revenue share.
How partners handled it
A regional US airport kept lost and found in paper notebooks, and guests had to call or find staff to ask. About 90% of claims are now filed online by guests, and the return rate nearly doubled, from 1 in 8 to about 1 in 4.
Read the regional US airport storyMost partners prefer to stay anonymous, so stories use a venue descriptor. Every number is real. More results are on Impact.
Follow-up questions
How do we estimate what lost and found costs us today?
Count the lost item calls, emails and walk-ups in a typical week, multiply by the minutes each one takes, and add the postage you pay. The savings calculator on our home page turns four numbers (items, claims, returns and the share shipped) into hours and shipping cost.
Can we start small?
Yes. Plans can be annual, quarterly or custom, and a group can start with a few properties instead of the whole portfolio. There is no public price list, so we scope it with you.
Do guests need to download an app?
No. Guests file a claim in under 45 seconds from any device, through the link on your website or a QR code, then get updates until their item is found. Staff can also file on behalf of a guest who calls or walks up.
How long does it take to go live?
Sign the agreement, join a 30-minute kick-off call, add the claim link to your website, and you are taking digital claims. We bulk import your existing inventory, so the back room is searchable from day one.