Fluctuating returns volume, dissatisfied customers, and lengthy processes can quickly derail your returns process and hinder repeat customers in the retail industry. But every challenge has a solution. With the right data, resources, and strategy, you can build a more efficient returns process that keeps your customers happy.
Let’s look at some of the most common challenges that emerge in retail reverse logistics.
Challenge: Operational Efficiency
Operational inefficiencies cost time and money, ultimately leading to unhappy customers, lost profits, and insufficient resources. Inefficiency can crop up in many ways including:
- Inefficient Labor Tracking: If you can’t track units per hour in real-time, you won’t be able to evaluate profitability until it is too late.
Solution: Keep time-stamped logs of each step in the returns process. By tracking where each item is and how long it takes to complete each task, managers can identify and address bottlenecks before they impact your bottom line. - Inaccurate Materials Planning: Running out of parts means putting your entire operation on hold while you wait for new parts to come in, resulting in costly downtime.
Solution: Implement tools within your software solution that tracks consumption in real time. Set reorder points and triggers that notify you when stock is running low so you never run out. - Poor Process Efficiency: Process adherence keeps workflows running smoothly and on schedule. However, complex operations require extensive training and often result in bottlenecks, mistakes, and inefficiency.
Solution: A SaaS solution like WipIT improves process efficiency by automating the decision making, optimizing and streamlining operations, utilizing in-app work instructions, and making it easy for your IT team to update workflows directly in the system. This reduces training time, breaks complex processes into manageable steps, and enforces process adherence.
Challenge: Customer Satisfaction
When a customer initiates a return, they are already dissatisfied with the product. Their experience during the returns process can either increase that dissatisfaction or create a positive impression about your customer service. Avoid these pitfalls:
- Poor Customer Experience: Customer experience lies at the heart of a successful retail return. Negative experiences will impact your company reputation, your customer retention rate, and your Net Promoter Score.
Solution: WipIT tracks every product through all stages of the returns process. This increased visibility helps call center employees answer customer questions quickly, address problems efficiently, and process timely returns. - Insufficient Customer Communication: Customers want to be kept informed about the status of their product. The longer it takes to communicate, the more frustrated they will be.
Solution: Use detailed process logs and product status updates to communicate proactively, keep customers informed, and address dissatisfaction early.
Challenge: Staffing Efficiency
Insufficient staffing leads to bottlenecks, missed deadlines, and frustrated customers. Being able to onboard new employees quickly and track historical data around seasonal returns makes it easier to predict your staffing needs.
- Turnover: Turnover is a fact of life. But it can create problems, such as extensive training and lengthy ramp up times for new employees.
Solution: WipIT creates easy-to-implement workflows that can be either process-driven or question-based. With work instructions built into the application, employees can be onboarded more quickly while ensuring process adherence. - Seasonal Variability: Retail returns take longer at certain times of year such as after holidays, around new product releases, and during Amazon Prime events. Knowing your unique returns history and your seasonal projections can help you plan for these surges in demand.
Solution: Track historical data to help understand trends and forecast future needs. You can use this information to identify year-over-year trends and allocate resources more accurately.
Overcoming Retail Reverse Logistics Challenges with Triage
With the right resources, challenges are simply opportunities in disguise. Triage works with you to solve root problems and create flexible solutions so you can keep reverse logistics operations running smoothly. We also offer colocation services to help you ramp up staffing quickly and meet increased demand during busy times.
At Triage, we specialize in delivering peace of mind through better visibility, enhanced operations control, and ground-level support. Contact us today to learn how we can transform your supply chain logistics.