The holiday season brings a surge in sales—and an inevitable wave of returns. For many retailers, this post-peak flood of returned merchandise can be a logistical and financial challenge. But with a strategic approach, returns can become a valuable part of your inventory strategy, helping you recover revenue and protect margins.
Without an efficient returns management system, large volumes of returned stock ends up liquidated or sold at a fraction of its value—a huge loss of revenue. Shifting your perspective is key: Returns aren’t just a cost; they’re hidden inventory. Properly managing them can turn returns into opportunities.
Treat returns as valuable inventory
Every return is a potential sale. To unlock this value, integrate returns into your inventory system with real-time visibility. Managing returns with the same precision as new stock allows you to restock and resell items quickly, satisfying demand and capturing missed sales. By rethinking returns as part of your supply chain, you can minimize losses and maximize recovery.
Use data and AI for smarter decisions
Not all returns are the same. Effective returns strategies rely on real-time data and AI-driven decisions. AI can determine whether an item should be restocked, refurbished, or liquidated, and optimize routing to the channel with the highest resale potential.
AI-powered tools help you:
- Optimize disposition: Decide whether to restock, refurbish or liquidate items based on real-time data
- Streamline routing: Direct returns to the best location to minimize costs and maximize resale speed
- Choose smarter shipping: Balance cost and speed for each return using AI-driven recommendations
Modernize returns systems
Legacy systems and manual processes often fail to handle the fast pace and high volume of returns during peak season. These bottlenecks delay decisions, create inaccurate inventory data and increase costs. Modern, real-time solutions eliminate these issues, enabling quicker, more confident actions during peak periods.
Enforce flexible yet clear policies
A strong returns policy is essential but must also allow for flexibility during peak season. Systems should be able to handle different returns policies, enforcing them where necessary to reduce out-of-policy returns and prevent fraud.
Optimize warehouse returns processing
Returns can overwhelm warehouses, especially when already stretched thin during peak times. Efficient returns systems are essential to avoid bottlenecks and recover valuable inventory faster. Key elements include:
- Streamlined workflows: Simplify inspection, sorting and dispositioning for faster processing
- Labor optimization: Allocate resources strategically to manage returns without disrupting outbound fulfillment
- System integration: Connect returns management with warehouse and order systems for end-to-end visibility
Peak season success isn’t just about selling more—it’s about keeping more of the revenue you earn. By leveraging real-time visibility, AI and modern systems, you can turn post-peak returns into a strategic advantage, sustaining growth long after the holiday rush.