Returns and reverse logistics management

We put a policy, a flow and an owner on returned goods: how items are accepted, collected, inspected, graded and returned to stock, refurbished, sold on or written off. The policy customers see, the flow providers follow and the recovery value the finance team books are set together.

Reverse logistics touches the customer, the courier, the warehouse and the ledger at once, so the group needs one owner for it. We build that ownership and the numbers behind it.

• A returns policy and customer journey, from request to refund, with time standards.
• A reverse flow design setting collection, inspection, grading and disposition rules.
• A grading standard with recovery values per grade by product group.
• A returns cost and recovery model, including courier, handling and refund timing.
• A provider schedule of returns service levels and reporting for contract inclusion.

• Return rate is reported by product group, channel and courier, so you know where returns come from.
• Returned items reach a decision sooner.
• Each grade of returned goods carries a recovery value, shown as a share of original cost.
• The reverse flow has a cost per returned item, and you see it beside the value recovered.
• Refunds follow the goods, and the share issued after the goods are received and graded is on the report.

Returns arrive at a warehouse as an interruption. Items sit unprocessed, the refund waits on the inspection, and good stock is not back on sale for weeks. The ledger shows revenue reversed and cost of goods unrecovered, with no line for the logistics in between.

• Returned items wait days or weeks before they are checked and restocked.
• Refunds are issued before the goods reach the warehouse.
• Refused cash-on-delivery parcels are counted as lost sales and the stock is not traced.
• Return rates are known for the business and not by product, channel or courier.
• Damaged returns are written off in bulk without a grading record.

Brands and retailers with high return rates, such as fashion, electronics and home goods, and distributors who take back goods from trade customers. It applies equally to cash-on-delivery rejections where the parcel comes back unopened.

Across more than 20 companies in several countries, Qasim Abbas brought each onto one set of numbers, where a reversal in one entity must match a recovery in another. That is the accounting problem inside reverse logistics, and your physical flow and ledger are treated as one system.

We run the design on the order, warehouse and customer service systems the group already has and tie it to the ledger, including Xero and NetSuite. See how fees work.

Should we make returns harder to reduce them?

We recommend the policy the model shows recovering the most value after cost, with the cost and recovery of each alternative laid beside it.

Who should own returns inside the group?

One named executive in operations with a finance counterpart. We define the role and the reports it receives.

Does it cover cash-on-delivery rejections?

Yes. They are returns with no customer contact, and the design traces the stock and the courier charge back to a decision.

Describe the return volume and the channels it comes through. We outline how a returns model is built for your group at a private briefing with the Managing Partner.