Traditional logistics everyone already knows. It starts with the purchase of a product which, in turn, is sent from the Distribution Center (DC) to the customer's home. But what about reverse logistics in e-commerce? How does it work?
Reverse logistics (also called reverse logistics) is a practice to be performed when a product needs to return from the customer's home to the DC. There are several situations where this is necessary, such as:
– The customer regretted having purchased the product;
– The customer wants to exchange the defective product;
– The customer only wants to return a defective product.
According to Law No. 8.078, of September 11, 1990 , and Decree No. 7.962, of March 15, 2013, which regulates it:
– The consumer can give up the purchase of a product within 7 days;
– The right to repentance must be respected.
The two documents also specify the basic rules that must be followed when returning products. They address issues such as chargebacks, shipping, deadlines and feedback that must be given to the customer. Therefore, it can be seen that reverse logistics is not an option, but an obligation for the entrepreneur.
Therefore, it is important that you entrepreneur develop an action plan to carry out returns so that you are not caught by surprise when they are needed. Also create, and publish in your virtual store, a text that informs consumers about your exchange and returns policies, in which all the procedures involving this practice are explained.
Use Big Data , that is, accumulate data on returns over a period of time and identify the most common reasons why they occur. This way, you will be able to eliminate the root causes and reduce their occurrence.
Reverse logistics is laborious and frustrating for entrepreneurs, but on the other hand, if this work is done well, consumers may see value in this process and positively influence the social capital of their online store.
