Returns, Regrets, and Reverse Logistics

Encouraged by friends who seemed unusually fascinated by my nerdy ramblings, I’ve decided to share some thoughts on reverse logistics—the underappreciated art of dealing with returned items. At its core, reverse logistics is about what happens when consumers send stuff back, a process we influence more than we realize.

Consumers are the head of the snake, dictating how brands operate. We’ve demanded free shipping, no-questions-asked returns, and unlimited return windows—and brands have bent over backward to deliver. COVID sealed the deal, turning consumers into royalty and forcing brands to grovel amidst supply chain chaos. And honestly? I’m all for it. Consumers should use their buying power to demand better service.

But here’s the rub: these perks come with unsavory side effects. For operations teams, it’s a nightmare: warehouses stuffed with repackaged returns, skewed inventory counts, and endless executive pressure to "fix it." For consumers, the side effects are easier to ignore—like a mild backache you know you should deal with but never do.

When you return an item, it comes at a cost—financial, operational, and environmental. That vacuum you used twice? It might travel hundreds of miles, sit untouched on a shelf for months, or be meticulously inspected and refurbished. Or, if the operation isn’t equipped to handle it, it might end up in the 6.2 million tonnes of e-waste clogging landfills each year.

Here’s the paradox: we demand brands cater to our every whim, but we also want to feel like responsible environmental stewards. It’s a cognitive dissonance we’re all living with, whether we acknowledge it or not.

I’m working to bridge this gap by helping brands build better reverse logistics systems—ones that not only serve customers but also reduce waste and environmental impact. Because in the end, being a savvy consumer shouldn’t come at the cost of the planet.