Reverse Logistics - Business Implications

Business Implications

In today's marketplace, many retailers treat merchandise returns as individual, disjointed transactions. "The challenge for retailers and vendors is to process returns at a proficiency level that allows quick, efficient and cost-effective collection and return of merchandise. Customer requirements facilitate demand for a high standard of service that includes accuracy and timeliness. It’s the logistic company's responsibility to shorten the link from return origination to the time of resell." By following returns management best practices, retailers can achieve a returns process that addresses both the operational and customer retention issues associated with merchandise returns. Further, because of the connection between reverse logistics and customer retention, it has become a key component within Service Lifecycle Management (SLM), a business strategy aimed at retaining customers by bundling even more coordination of a company's services data together to achieve greater efficiency in its operations. Reverse logistics is more than just returns management, it is "activities related to returns avoidance, gatekeeping, disposal and all other after-market supply chain issues". Returns management – increasingly being recognized as affecting competitive positioning – provides an important link between marketing and logistics. The broad nature of its cross-functional impact suggests that firms would benefit by improving internal integration efforts. In particular, a firm's ability to react to and plan for the influence of external factors on the returns management process is improved by such internal integration. Third-party logistics providers see that up to 7% of an enterprise's gross sales are captured by return costs. Almost all reverse logistics contracts are customized to fit the size and type of company contracting. The 3PL's themselves realize 12% to 15% profits on this business.

"Studies have shown that an average of 4% to 6% of all retail purchases are returned, costing the industry about $40 billion per year."