How do you handle your customer returns today? Whether you are a small e-commerce business selling retail goods to consumers or a large warehouse manager that is part of a B2B operation, returns are an inevitable part of doing business. Unfortunately that process can also become detrimental to business operations, especially if you have a high volume of sales and returns and you don’t have a way to automate the process. Just like you spend time and money optimizing your forward logistics to get things from the store or the assembly line to your customers, you need to invest time and money in automating the reverse process.
Benefits of Automation
Running the “reverse” side of your business can be just as smooth as the forward side of your company with the right software in place. A reverse logistics platform can streamline operations by:
- Improving the visibility of the returns process
- Increasing the ROI on returned items by maximizing their resale value
- Tracking asset recovery to avoid losing products and reduce fraud
- Reducing turnaround times from returns to restocking and resale
- Managing refurbishment, product warranties, and repairs efficiently
- Improving customer communication and transparency through the process
Boosting Business Intelligence
You already know the value of data for your business operations, and probably track things like which products sell the most, what kinds of specials drive sales volume, costs for storing and managing inventory, average shipping times and costs, and more.
But do you know what’s happening when something comes back to your company as a return? How quickly does it get back on the shelf if it can be resold? How often are certain products returned? How long does it remain in your warehouse before it’s disposed of properly? How long do warranty repairs take?
All of these questions are important to not only improve your operational efficiency as a business, but also to improve customer satisfaction. With an automated platform for reverse logistics, you get access to the same level of rich data, reporting, and business intelligence, which helps:
- Identify anomalies, such as frequently returned items, which may indicate the need to improve an online product listing or remove it entirely from your inventory
- Streamline the process for intake and restocking or resale
- Improve the time and reduce costs for warranties and repairs
- Figure out which items could be refurbished and resold for a profit
- Find and eliminate bottlenecks from manual processes or labor variations
- Identify and justify the need for more personnel or a department to manage returns
When you’re ready to automate your reverse logistics, talk to the experts at ReverseLogix. We can put our extensive logistics, transport, and supply chain expertise to work for your business.