Operation Meeting #3: Supply Chain - How to better handle product returns

Meeting Report

April 4, 2022

Operations

TOPIC

In 2020, in the US alone, e-commerce accounted for USD 565 billion. More than doubling from 2019, approximately 18% (USD 102 billion) of this merchandise has been returned (9% of items bought in a brick-and-mortar stores are returned).

To deal with the returns, businesses have no choice but to add workers, increase warehouse space, and even create a separate department to handle reverse logistics.

In department stores, an average of 6 profit margin points are considered lost on product returns. Considering this major impact on profitability, not to mention the implied sustainability issue, IADS members' CEOs decided that the Supply Chain Meeting should be dedicated to the product return topic.

The purpose of the meeting is to create a place where all of you can discuss strategies and best practices, as well as collectively address questions such as: How do you handle product returns by/across channels, what has proved to be cost-efficient and adaptable to your organisation and systems, what are your next steps to better deal with returns in terms of customer satisfaction and profitability?