How to organise return handling; an exploratory study with nine retailer warehouses

René de Koster, Marisa de Brito () and Masja van de Vendel

No EI 2002-11, Econometric Institute Research Papers from Erasmus University Rotterdam, Erasmus School of Economics (ESE), Econometric Institute

Abstract: Already for a long time retailers take back products. In this paper we explore the factors contributing to the decision of combining vs. separating inbound and outbound flows during the return handling process. We do so through a comparative analysis of the operations in nine retailer warehouses, which can be divided in three groups: food retailers, department stores and mail order companies. We identify both aggravating factors and facilitating actions for return handling. Furthermore, we bring about recommendations for practice. At the end we put forward propositions that are useful in feeding studies on return handling efficiency. In particular, we conjecture over the impact that return volume and product diversity have on the decision for combining vs. separating the reverse and forward flows.

Keywords: Case studies; Inbound and outbound flows; Product returns; Retailing; Return handling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-05-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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