Returns are inevitable in the retail and e-commerce industry, but there are different ways to turn them around, from challenges to opportunities. Does your business know how?
The answer lies in reverse logistics which, instead of overseeing that the products go from manufacturers and retailers to the customer, ensures products move from a customer back to the retailer or manufacturer depending on each business’s requirements and policies.
Understanding reverse logistics operations allows your business to deal with returned items and better manage processes to help reduce waste, refurbish products, or recycle materials that can still be valuable while enhancing cost savings and taking care of customer satisfaction.
The reverse logistics process
Reverse logistics involve many steps to handle everything that happens after a customer sends a product back. From the moment returned products are received, through sorting them into items for refurbishing, and the ones for recycling or disposal, to recover as much value as possible and prevent losses.
A well-managed reverse logistics system also manages waste and deals with outdated inventory. For example, when a company takes old electronics back, repairs them, and then resells them as refurbished items. This is an additional revenue source that also keeps customers happy.
The lifecycle of a returned product
Reverse logistics operations start the moment a customer sends a product back, then it arrives at the warehouse where it is inspected to check its condition.
Then, according to the inspection results, it is decided whether it will be refurbished and resold, restocked if it’s in excellent condition, or disposed of if it can’t be used anymore.
A great strategy to help your business optimize reverse logistics and ensure smooth returns, reduce waste, and recapture value from items, is using a warehouse management system (WMS), that helps track returns and facilitates the sorting of returned products into restocked, recycled, or disposed of.
Types of reverse logistics: A breakdown
Various types of reverse logistics cater to different types of businesses and their need. Each type focuses on different strategies and tools. Knowing each and their differences will help your business make a better and more informed decision on which one brings the most benefits to you:
- Returns Management: One of the most commonly used and better-known types of reverse logistics management. It handles the return process once a customer sends back a product, and then decides whether the item will be restocked or disposed of.
- Recycling and Waste Management: As its name explains, this type of reverse logistics manages waste products and recycling materials and items, helping companies to recycle packing materials and outdated inventory sustainably while also taking care of the costs produced by this process. For example, many companies recycle packaging materials or outdated electronics, helping them meet sustainability goals while also cutting costs.
- Refurbishment and Remanufacturing: This type of reverse logistics receives the returned items, assesses them, repairs them, and then refurbishes them to be resold. Its focus is to recover as much value possible from returned items, reducing loss and waste.
How EP Logistics can optimize your reverse logistics
When businesses like yours work with an experienced partner like us, we help them improve their reverse logistics operations and boost inventory management practices by managing every process involved in the reverse logistics operations.
At EP Logistics, we offer you customizable solutions to make reverse logistics management easier and more efficient. Our goal is to enhance your reverse logistics operations to:
- Achieve cost savings.
- Optimize your chain management.
- Ensure your items are always handled properly.
- Handle your returns and their correct sorting.
- Ensure an environmentally friendly recycling, or disposal of returned items
Whether your business deals with cross-border returns or domestic products, we handle everything for you including
- Implementing tools like a warehouse management system (WMS),
- Facilitating processing times for returns
- Providing your business with the best network of air, road, ocean freight solutions.
- Bringing expert custom brokers to handle cross-border returns
- Supporting your reverse logistics strategy
- Taking care of your customer’s satisfaction.
Contact our team at EP Logistics and let us help you optimize your reverse logistics and help your business thrive in the nowadays fast-paced commerce industry!
