Why You Should Plan for Return Logistics in Your Supply Chain

Third-party logistics service providers have become an integral part of many organizations across different industries. Having a logistics partner to handle the in-betweens of your supply chain process along with your last-mile deliveries helps save you time and costs while allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.

Markets are becoming increasingly competitive with the help of e-commerce platforms or established online marketplaces. Regardless if you are selling online, physically, direct to consumer or B2B, what separates you from other similar businesses are reviews.

When we are searching for more information on a product or service, it has become instinctive of us to do some research and see what previous buyers have to say about their purchasing experience. More often than not, you will see multiple comments of shipments being delayed, the physical product arriving in poor condition, or an irresponsive seller. 

Well, the truth is the shopping process comprises more than these simple steps and any negative association may prompt the user to leave a bad review. While it may not strike most as an important aspect of logistics initially, reverse logistics plays a huge part in a successful business.

WHAT IS REVERSE LOGISTICS?

Reverse logistics is ‘reversing’ any portion of the logistics chain process. This can occur at any portion of the supply chain. In most scenarios, this reverse logistics is most relevant at the final transaction of the chain. Some great examples are the refund or warranty periods post-sale and also re-calling a defective batch of products.

A seamless reverse logistics transaction can be more complicated especially if you run an international network. While you have to make the process easy enough for the consumer to return their purchase, you also have to ensure that you have the logistics resources to take the product back to you. 

And from there, how you manage this flow can end up taking lots of time. Take for instance if you were selling clothing online to customers all over the world. You will face issues like customers purchasing the wrong size or clothing that might have been accidentally damaged that will prompt your customer for a return. Once they have returned the shipment to you, where does it go? Will you repair it, get rid of it, or place it back in your inventory?

In that logic, the reverse logistics process can run back from the end consumer all the way back to the supplier, depending on how you manage it. The bottom line is that to tackle all the potential issues that you might face, you will need a logistics strategy to sort out the flow. Of course, the above examples are just surface explanations of how one can view reverse logistics, there are more considerations when the supply chain process becomes increasingly complex.

HOW CAN DHL EXPRESS HELP WITH REVERSE LOGISTICS?

As much as we take pride in our speedy last-mile deliveries, we also understand the importance of reverse logistics. Being one of the trusted courier service in Singapore, we can help with your shipment’s returns by allowing you to create a return label for your customers. While your main air waybill will take care of the door-to-door delivery, our return air waybill can be printed and placed within your parcel or document as well.

That way, when the recipient decides to send their shipment back to you, all they need to do is call our customer service specialists to arrange for a collection and we will take care of bringing the item back to you! Creating a return label is a flexible, free-of-charge service that we offer to our account customers only.

When your customers have the option of a simple return process, it will boost their confidence when purchasing from you and help shorten the purchasing process, allowing you to have a higher turnover. At DHL Express, we think of all aspects that will provide you with a successful business. Whether you are selling B2B or B2C, we want to help you tighten the logistics process, so that you can focus on what makes your business great.