Greater visibility + intelligence = greater sustainability
Blue Yonder has the ideal formula for increasing the sustainability of fashion returns. Our digital returns management capabilities enable a disciplined, automated process and real-time visibility for fashion retailers. With Blue Yonder, returns are tracked in real time and smartly managed with artificial intelligence (AI). In seconds, fashion retailers can strategically and profitably decide what to do with a given returned item, then act on that optimal decision immediately. One of the main benefits of digitizing the returns management process via Blue Yonder software is speed. Another is profitability. At every step, time and costs are intelligently driven out of reverse logistics.
For example, while nearly a third of retailers require customers to initiate a product return by contacting customer support — and others include a printed label in every package — Blue Yonder enables a digitized, label-less process.
This digital process creates real-time transparency and ensures the right resources are in place to support end-to-end returns management, including labor. The product’s route is optimized, and the retailer knows exactly when it will arrive back at the warehouse. Once it’s there, automated rules help to quickly assess the return, verify it and send it to the next destination — the right retail shelf or warehouse aisle, not the dumpster. Certain high-demand fashion items can be prioritized by the receiving team, to quickly get those products back on sale and speed up revenue recapture.
For items that are flagged as damaged, associates can quickly decide to repair them, offer them to shoppers at a deep discount, or categorize them for proper recycling. Fashion retailers like Urban Outfitters are beginning to offer reclaimed or re-imagined clothing items that are constructed of fabric or garments that might otherwise be sent to landfills. This is the kind of innovation that’s unlocked by digitization.
Delivering greater decision speed and quality is only part of Blue Yonder’s value equation. Across the returns management process, Blue Yonder software minimizes the use of paper, such as return forms, packaging and labels. Blue Yonder solutions also reduce road miles, eliminate manual labor, maximize round trips and otherwise drive sustainability.
A winning formula: Greater sustainability, higher profits, happier shoppers
In addition to cutting costs, accelerating process steps and creating environmental benefits, Blue Yonder’s returns management solutions also increase shopper satisfaction. Consumers enjoy maximum ease and convenience by using digital returns portals and drop-off kiosks.
Research has shown that 66% of consumers consider sustainability when they make a purchase. When fashion retailers demonstrate a commitment to environmental responsibility in their returns management process, they’re making their shoppers happier in multiple ways.
Optimizing the fashion returns process has proven to be good for the planet, good for your revenues and profit margins, and good for your shoppers. No matter how you look at the perennial problem of returns, that’s a winning formula. Contact Blue Yonder to learn more.
