Genesco Inc. is a footwear focused, Nashville-based specialty retailer and branded company with more than 1,400 stores throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland. It is the parent company of brands that include: Journeys, Schuh, Little Burgundy, Johnston & Murphy, as well as wholesale and licensed footwear brands such as Levi’s, Dockers and Bass.
Challenge: Slow, Manual Returns Processes
Genesco’s largest facility is a Journeys distribution center that spans a half-million square feet, providing shoes and eCommerce fulfillment for Journeys’ $2 billion in annual sales.
However, returns processes at the facility were slow and labor intensive. This was especially problematic coming out of the frenzy of eCommerce spending around COVID lock downs, when the Journeys DC faced a 60-day backlog of returned products.
“We needed to find a simpler solution for returns…a faster way to get the customer’s return in and notify them that we have their return in our possession,” said Erin Johnson, senior returns and vendor compliance manager at Genesco.
Solution: Faster, Easier Returns with a Single Platform
Genesco selected the ReverseLogix returns management system (RMS) to manage its returns processes.
“The reason Journeys did choose ReverseLogix is because we can go into one system and not have to do three or four other systems that we were doing previously. We just log into one and start the return and finish it all in one system.”
Erin Johnson, senior returns and vendor compliance manager
The ReverseLogix RMS facilitates, manages and reports on the entire returns lifecycle. Its robust policy and rules engine is configurable and changeable to meet claims rules, policies, vendor entitlements and approval hierarchies.
- Connects every point in the returns lifecycle with a single, end-to-end platform
- Integrates with other supply chain systems
- Customers can easily initiate returns or check a return status with a branded, intuitive portal
- Highly configurable processes, including guided workflows for receiving, inspecting, and grading product returns
- Real-time data across the returns journey to optimize performance
Within days of going live with ReverseLogix, Genesco saw an ROI.
Results: A Near-Immediate ROI
“I would absolutely recommend ReverseLogix to anybody looking to streamline and enhance their reverse logistics processes,” said Leif Revere, director of distribution center systems.
Since implementation, Genesco has seen a near-immediate and ongoing ROI of its improved returns operations.
Faster processing times
Genesco reports that the time required for processing a return is one-fifth the time it took before ReverseLogix returns management technology.
Rather than relying on disparate systems to receive, manage and process returns, Genesco employees leverage ReverseLogix to see where returns have been initiated, if they’ve shipped out, and whether the item is at the warehouse. Everything, from start to finish, is accomplished in the ReverseLogix platform.
Better forecasting and planning
Planning has significantly improved because of the visibility into returns initiation data and the items’ location.
“I can plan my manpower for the day or week, because all I need to do is look on ReverseLogix and it’ll tell me how many returns we’re expecting between my two different areas of returns,” said Johnson.
Very happy customers
“Satisfaction both internally and externally was evident on day one,” said Revere. “Our call center got good feedback from customers about order tracking for returns.”
The customizable, intuitive customer returns portal makes initiation and tracking seamless. The drop-down boxes make selections fast and easy for customers, and ready-to-print return labels round out a complete self-service experience.
Continued improvements
Genesco plans to integrate the ReverseLogix RMS with its financial system and order management system for even more efficiency and speed,. It also plans to gather more returns data for continuous improvement throughout its DC processes.
“We’re excited about the other capabilities like cost of goods compared to returns, and doing a visual check of product to eliminate the manual checks,” said Revere. “The ease of use and growth of offering more return options to our customer network and leveraging other supply chain processes that we have in place with FedEx…those are things we’re looking at with ReverseLogix.”
“We love ReverseLogix!” said Shelby Smith, project manager. “It’s helped us maintain and provide accurate returns to our customers, and helped us maintain time efficiency for getting our returns completed faster.”