Take a Gander at this Record-Breaking Returns Management Program

Challenge

This leading sporting goods and outdoor retailer was known for its wide assortment of high-end brands. Each brand had a separate agreement with the retailer on how returned product was to be handled Return-to-Vendor (RTV). Rather than manage the returned inventory itself, the retailer sought a trusted partner to handle the complete process and ensure adherence of each item to the terms of each vendor RTV agreement.

Solution

For over seven years, Liquidity Services has provided valuable RTV services to the retailer. We receive all returned goods from them and unload, sort, and store shipments of goods. Based on the agreement for each product, our warehouse team designates each one to be shipped back to the vendor, liquidated in the secondary market through our multichannel marketing approach, or recycled through an environmentally friendly process.

Liquidity Services also created a customized “RTV Receive Tool” that mapped the stores’ manifests to its warehouse systems, ensuring that only the UPCs/SKUs listed on each manifest could be processed. The retailer receives reports on any overages or shortages of product, allowing for complete transparency into the process.

What We Did: Return Management Services

• Receive transfers daily before shipment arrival
• Receive and store item-level details including description, UPC, retail price, and cost
• Coordinate inbound shipments daily
• Receive and unload shipments of assets delivered
• Set up consolidations (recalls) to override default disposition for certain vendor buyback events
• Scan or manually enter UPC or SKU numbers on Assets and store digital inventory of product by vendor
• Sort based on disposition: Salvage, RTV/Recall, or Destroy
• Perform secondary sort based on product category (Salvage items) or RTV vendor (RTV/Recall items)
• Liquidate items with Salvage disposition using channels that will maximize recovery
• Destroy any items with Destroy disposition, recording proof of destruction
• Ship all RTV/Recall product back to vendors.
• Prepare invoices for vendors and distribute those invoices.
• Provide reporting for transfers received, items received, and items processed by disposition.

Additional Value-Added Services

• Research Items – Obtain proper disposition for un-scannable items, overage items, or otherwise invalid items.
• Hazardous Items – Arrange the pickup of hazardous items. These items required secure storage until they are picked up.
• Unexpected Transfers – Obtain shipment details for transfers that were not systematically sent ahead of time.
• Special Consolidation Requirements – Accommodate vendors that have specific instructions about sorting, preparing, and shipping back product.
• Override Dispositions – Override disposition for certain SKUs based on special instructions. System should allow for disposition by SKU, not by vendor.
• Monthly Close Out – Stop receiving process for 2-4 days to ship all RTV product back to vendors instead of performing rolling RTV shipments.
• Return Authorizations – Obtain return authorization (RA) from each vendor. Hold product until RA is provided. Blanket authorizations would allow for faster returns back to vendor and faster payment to Camping World/Gander Outdoors.
• Vendor Contact Information – Obtain and correct vendor information for inaccurate data with regular, systematic process.
• Vendor Refusals and Re-returns – Follow up on vendors that refuse shipments and re-receive product that was shipped back to LSI.
• Delayed Resolution to Issues – Hold product until resolution is provided.

Results

Liquidity Services handled the end-to-end process of returned goods from over 120 client stores – from arranging transportation to returning product to the vendor, organizing the product to be destroyed through a certified recycler, or selling it through an online marketplace. Secondary sales achieved record-breaking recovery. What was once a headache is now an efficient process, managed by Liquidity Services.

If you’re overpaying for transportation and struggling with a limited slate of secondary market buyers, maybe it’s time to outsource your reverse logistics to Liquidity Services, the acknowledged industry leader for almost 25 years. Unlike others, we’ll be there when you need us. And because every retail business is unique, you can add on just the solutions you need as your operation scales.

Ready to Optimize Your Reverse Logistics?

Visit us at LiquidityServices.com, call us at 800.310.4604 ext. 5500 or email [email protected].