Turn Returns Into Revenue: 5 Steps From a Logistics Expert

With peak season four months behind us—or eight months ahead of us, depending on how you look at it—it’s easy to assume that it’s smooth sailing from here. 

Order volume will hold steady throughout Q3, and things will be quiet, predictable, and straightforward … right?

If only that were true!

Although you probably don’t need to worry about crazy demand spikes until October, seasonal demand changes should still be on your radar. 

With holidays like Mother’s Day and Father’s Day just around the corner, consumers are likely looking out for the perfect presents. And as the weather warms, they’ll be updating their wardrobes and ordering outdoor essentials. 

But with more purchases come more returns. So as we step into Q2, it’s not a bad idea to review your return policy and make sure you’re not losing time or money. 

To get started, follow these 5 steps shared by Tim Robinson, senior vice president and general manager at Blue Yonder, on his Unboxing Logistics episode.

1. Understand just how much your return policy shapes loyalty

Before you can improve your returns process, you need to understand what’s actually at stake. 

“Consumers are way more switched in now to policies,” Tim explained. “And if they believe a retailer is behaving unreasonably, they won’t shop there. They’ll move somewhere else.”

This isn’t just about customer satisfaction scores; it’s a real business risk. High-profile cases in Europe, where fast fashion retailers changed their return policies, have landed on the front page of national newspapers. Consumers whose accounts were suspended for frequent returns have become news stories. 

The reputational stakes are now as significant as the financial ones.

The takeaway isn’t that you can never adjust your policy. It’s that changes need to be handled carefully, communicated openly, and grounded in an understanding of how much consumers are paying attention.

2. Treat returned inventory as an asset, not a write-off

This is the philosophical shift at the heart of everything Tim discussed, and it’s the one with the biggest practical payoff.

For a long time, the default assumption in retail has been that a returned item is a loss: destined for liquidation, the secondary market, or in the worst cases, a landfill. 

That assumption is expensive.

“It’s still a pair of Nike Airs,” Tim said. “When they went out, they were Nike Airs. When they come back, they’re still Nike Airs. And so there is still a demand for those items.”

His practical advice: use technology to treat a returned item the same way you’d treat a brand-new outbound item, tracking where it is, what condition it’s in, and where demand exists. 

If you do that, you have a very good chance of reselling it at or near full price. 

3. Use transparency to influence consumer behavior

In 2024, 55% of consumers said they were concerned about the environmental impact of returns. By 2025, that number had risen to 65%, and 71% said they wouldn’t complete a return if they believed the item was headed to a landfill.

That’s a significant lever, and most retailers aren’t pulling it.

Tim explained that consumers change their behavior when they have visibility. For example, when plastic bag fees were introduced at grocery stores, behavior shifted. When food retailers started providing provenance information about fresh produce, shoppers started buying local. 

The principle is the same for returns.

“If we were to tell consumers when they go onto a returns page, ‘ninety-three percent of these items get resold, seven percent get gifted here,'” Tim said, “you might start to see some of those items, those SKUs which are harder to resell, maybe consumers think differently about that sort of stuff.”

In other words, rather than trying to minimize returns with overly strict policies, try focusing more on visibility and education. 

Some consumers will order more thoughtfully, while others will feel better about returning items they genuinely can’t use, knowing those items will find a second life. 

4. In a tough economy, think carefully before tightening your policy 

Consumers are under financial pressure. 

They’re nervous about spending, watching their budgets, and paying close attention to the fine print of return policies in ways they might not have a few years ago.

That context matters when you’re considering policy changes. Tightening restrictions or introducing return fees might seem like a sensible way to reduce costs, but it can cause shoppers to hesitate.

And as Tim pointed out, that’s not a strategy that tends to work in your favor.

“You’ve got to think differently about returns and [consider] real consumers,” he explained. “If you just tighten returns policies and start charging, you are making it their problem. And it’s not their problem.”

Of course, that doesn’t mean costs don’t matter. But the businesses that are finding the best balance are the ones investing in back-end systems that make returns cheaper and faster to process, rather than passing those costs to the consumer at the door.

5. Build a cross-functional team around the returns problem

Returns touch more parts of a business than most people realize, and solving them well requires more than one department.

As a closing action item, Tim suggested a simple exercise. Take 15 minutes this week with a blank piece of paper and write down everyone in your organization who touches returns. 

Tim’s list: the CFO, store ops, warehouse management, transport, procurement, merchandising. Your list may look different depending on how your business is structured, but the exercise is the same.

“You can’t solve this alone,” he said. “Be that person in your organization that turns it into a brand value thing.”

Want to hear the rest of Tim’s tips? Find the full podcast episode here.