An exploratory study on the returns management process in an online retailer

Searching for the right operations strategy to manage the repair process across the reverse supply chain

“…First, the research extends the literature with a unique case study of an e-commerce retailer, which presents some peculiarities that justify the choice to opt for a unique case study analysis. More precisely, the description of the three different strategies and the outcomes obtained satisfy the need to provide more insights, not only into the outsourcing of reverse logistics activities (Li and Olorunniwo, 2008;Cheng and Lee, 2010;de Araújo et al, 2018), but also on which cost items the retailer considered for the evaluation process (Ordoobadi, 2009). Second, the repair service, seen as a reverse logistics activity, has increasingly played a competitive role for the case study company.…”

“…The purpose of this research was to investigate the impact of an outsourcing-insourcing decision-making strategy concerning the repair process on a retailer's profitability. Because of the exploratory nature of the research questions, a case study approach was implemented, as recommended by Ellram (1996) and is evident in other studies in the existing literature (Falle et al, 2016;Sgarbossa and Russo, 2017;de Araújo et al, 2018).The case study approach has an action-based research context (Falle et al, 2016), in which researchers collaborate with practitioners (Enz and Lambert, 2015) to conduct in-depth investigations into practical…”

“…Further, because the online market has led to a fiercer competition, retailers must accurately design their reverse logistics operations. As a result, companies tend to find a balance between reverse logistics costs and efficiency improvement by outsourcing these activities, thus allowing them to focus on their core business and consumer satisfaction (de Araújo et al, 2018).…”

Reverse Logistics Applied to E-Commerce: A Systematic Literature Review on Methods, Applications, and Trends for a Virtual Sustainable Market / Logística Reversa Aplicada Ao Comércio Eletrônico: Uma Revisão Sistemática Da Literatura Sobre Métodos, Aplicações E Tendências Para Um Mercado Virtual Sustentável

“…In this sense, some RLec management strategies can be developed to minimize the number of returns, such as the provision of objective information on the product characteristics and exchange policy or, as suggested by Jayaraman et al (2008) and Wang et al (2013), for the establishment of an efficient information system. Once reverse logistics allows identifying and classifying the return reason, as well as the types of recovery and disposal, this information should be adopted by companies to understand both the customers' behavior and the market focusing on future adjustments for the supply chain, in order to enable cost optimization, reduce processing time and add value to return products, as proposed by de Araújo et al (2018). One way to solve this task is assuming artificial intelligence methods, especially machine learning approaches, that can learn from previous data focusing on more sustainable reverse logistics actions how it exposes Agrawa and Kr Singh (2019) and…”

Decisions of E-Commerce Supply Chain under Consumer Returns and Different Power Structures

“…However, the development of ESC has exacerbated consumer returns. Customer returns have always been a serious problem for traditional supply chains [10,11], while online sales have higher return rates than offline store sales [12][13][14]. Invesp infographics statistics show that the return rate for brick-and-mortar stores is 8.89%, while online order products have a return rate of more than 30% [15].…”