There is a new focus on reverse logistics, as a growing number of articles in the trade press Theirry et al. 1995). While there is new interest in reverse logistics, little is known about the size and scope of reverse logistics activities: How much money is being spent on these activities? What activities are companies involved in and why? What is the best way to organize reverse logistics? Should centralized facilities be used? Additionally, most of the work on reverse logistics examined in preparation for this research emphasized "green" or environmental issues. In this paper, green issues are briefly discussed, but the primary focus is on economic and supply chain issues relating to reverse logistics. This paper defines reverse logistics and describes reverse logistics practices and barriers to implementing good reverse logistics practices. A portion of the research charter was to determine the extent of reverse logistics activity in the United States. The objective was to identify current practices, examine these practices, and develop information surrounding trends in reverse logistics practices.

This paper compares and contrasts forward and reverse logistics in a retail environment, with the focus on the reverse flow of product. Many differences between forward and reverse flows of logistics systems are presented. The impact of these factors depends to some extent on the supply chain position of a firm. Unlike much reverse logistics research, which is written from the perspective of the firm which will remanufacture or refurbish the product in the reverse flow, we consider the issues from the perspective of the firm generating the reverse flow.

Managing the reverse flow of product is an important ability for any company, as the recent experiences of many online retailers illustrate. Reverse logistics is a growing and important area of strategic advantage for many companies. For a long time, the product life cycle has been a valuable source of insight about the changing needs of marketing and logistics over the life of a product. In this paper, we study the way that reverse logistics is impacted by changes in sales over the product’s life cycle.