Product returns in omnichannel retail

Product returns in omnichannel retail present a multifaceted challenge, significantly impacting financial performance and environmental sustainability. Many returned items fail to re-enter the original sales channels, thus complicating the returns management process and increasing environmental waste. To strategically reduce return rates and enhance sustainability, retailers need to understand the drivers behind product returns by considering macro-factors, customer-related factors, and retailer-controlled factors. Additionally, returns fraud has emerged as a significant issue, requiring the adoption of advanced IT systems and strategic measures to minimize fraud opportunities. Given the critical importance of product returns today, this section highlights the need for strategic approaches in managing product returns and associated fraud within two main omnichannel retail frameworks.

The Elgar Encyclopedia of Retailing is a groundbreaking resource that presents a comprehensive overview of the retail sector. It covers the forms and history of the industry as well as topics such as employment, supply chain logistics, sustainability and other contemporary challenges. Interdisciplinary in scope, entries provide readers with a far-reaching analysis, encompassing economics, management, geography, regional and urban planning, history and political science.