Lauren Mitchell
Bungii | Client Executive
Most retailers go into peak season with rose-colored glasses. They expect smooth-sailing, fast deliveries, and happy customers. Then January hits. As the season flips, the flow reverses. Deliveries turn into pickups, inventory floods back, and the same team that crushed peak is now getting buried in its aftermath.
Analysts estimate that holiday returns, just from November through January, add up to roughly $160 billion in merchandise. That number doesn’t shock me. What does is how little time most teams spend getting ready for it.
Every year, I see the same thing. Retailers plan for the rush out the door, but not for what comes back in. They forecast orders and staff up for deliveries, but few take the same care with returns. The result is predictable: warehouses fill up, damage rates climb, refunds drag out.
Most teams build playbooks around outbound. They forecast labor, lock in carriers, and optimize routes. But they don’t build one for what comes back. When returns hit, everyone shifts into reaction mode instead of running a plan.
You can’t stop returns, but you can decide how prepared you’ll be when they land. The teams that plan early keep operations moving smoothly. The ones that don’t spend January cleaning up the mess.
Reducing damage and waste in reverse logistics
Every carrier will have some level of damage. That’s part of moving large, heavy items. The problem is that most retailers treat it as a cost of doing business instead of something they can manage.
I once ordered a mirror from an online retailer. It arrived cracked. They told me to keep it and sent another one. The second one was cracked too. Then they sent a third. Three mirrors for one order. That kind of waste adds up fast — in money, in time, and in landfill space.
When you work with carriers you can trust to handle freight carefully, you protect more than your margins. You protect your reputation. But trust takes structure. It comes from clear standards, consistent training, and visibility across every handoff.
Retailers who control damage start early. They audit packaging, define handling rules by product type, and confirm that every partner, from warehouse teams to last-mile drivers, knows the expectations. They test these systems before peak season, when small fixes still matter.
Control is what separates chaos from predictability. Every transfer point is a chance for something to break. Tight chains of custody, photo documentation, and accountability at each step keep performance measurable instead of reactive.
And when damage does occur, what happens next determines the real cost. The best operators separate damage from waste. They photograph and route returns for evaluation instead of defaulting to disposal. Some items can be repackaged or repaired. Others can be donated. Either way, product keeps moving and storage space stays clear.
Donation should be part of the plan
Bungii recently hosted a webinar with LiquiDonate about what happens to items that can’t go back into inventory. The truth is, most of them sit in a warehouse until someone decides to throw them away.
There’s a better option. Donation programs give those items a second life while saving storage space and cutting disposal costs. They can even help with taxes.
Donation is good business. It reduces waste and shows customers you care about where your products end up.
Ready to upgrade your last mile delivery program?
Reverse logistics is a customer experience opportunity
By the time a return starts, there is already a problem to solve. The question is whether you handle it like an operation or a chore. If pickups get missed, refunds drag, or nobody owns communication, you lose more than the product. You lose the next order.
Retailers track delivery performance down to the minute but rarely apply that same visibility to returns. For oversized items, that gap hurts. When customers can schedule a pickup, track progress, and see that their refund is moving, it changes the experience completely.
Returns are the part of the journey most brands forget to design. The tone of every email, the clarity of pickup instructions, the speed of the refund—all of it shapes how a customer feels when they think about you next time. It’s not just logistics. It’s brand reinforcement in motion.
Think about how many teams own a delivery KPI, then count how few own a return KPI. That imbalance leaves a blind spot that shows up in churn, negative reviews, and lost repeat business. Tracking NPS on deliveries is common. Doing it on returns is rare.
Visibility is what closes that gap. Real-time updates, photo confirmations, and transparent refund timelines turn a problem into proof that your systems work. Even when something goes wrong, customers remember how easy it was to make it right.
The best operators treat returns like marketing in disguise. Every smooth pickup, every clear communication, and every resolved refund is a brand impression that costs less than an ad and earns more loyalty than a discount.
Reverse logistics best practices for retailers
The best operators treat reverse logistics like outbound in reverse. They:
- Set clear expectations with carriers for pickup types, timing, and rates
- Review past data to see what caused the most returns
- Track every step with photos and timestamps
- Process refunds quickly to close the loop with the customer
At Bungii, our reverse logistics process mirrors our delivery process. We manage every aspect of the pickup and delivery, offer real-time tracking, and capture photos on both ends. The direction changes, but the quality doesn’t.
Build a reverse logistics plan before peak season
As peak season approaches, treat reverse logistics like its own operation, not an afterthought. The teams that get it right prepare for returns the same way they plan for outbound.
Talk to your carriers early. Ask how they schedule pickups, document damage, and communicate with customers. Review last year’s data to see what caused the most returns. Set clear expectations for timing, packaging, and reporting before the rush begins.
Use this window to pressure test your systems. Run mock pickups. Audit your visibility tools. Make sure refund timelines are realistic and communicated clearly. Every step you clarify now prevents days of manual cleanup later.
Reverse logistics is not just about moving product back. It is a measure of how well your operation performs under stress. The retailers who plan ahead enter January with cleaner warehouses, faster cash flow, and stronger customer retention. The ones who wait spend the first quarter paying for it.
