Reverse Logistics 3PL: Why Returns Require More Than Basic Fulfillment

Reverse Logistics 3PL: Why Returns Require More Than Basic Fulfillment

When your 3PL can ship out but cannot handle what comes back

Most brands choose their first 3PL for one reason. They need to ship orders fast. Outbound performance is easy to measure. The boxes go out on time or they do not. But after a year or two of growth, something else becomes harder to ignore. Your 3PL can ship forward, but it cannot handle the work coming back. Returns pile up. Refunds slow down. Inventory numbers wobble. Customer experience crumbles. That is the moment you stop looking for a fulfillment center and start looking for a true reverse logistics 3PL.

Reverse logistics is everything that happens after the sale. Returns, repairs, replacements, inspections, relabeling, and recycling. It is the side of the business most 3PLs never built for, but it is the side that shapes margin, customer satisfaction, and operational stability. When your reverse flows break, your entire business feels it.

Why reverse logistics needs more structure than outbound

Outbound fulfillment is predictable. Items leave clean and organized. Returns come back messy. Boxes arrive with mixed SKUs, missing paperwork, and a wide range of product conditions. A proper reverse logistics 3PL needs real process, not improvisation.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment at G10, explained why returns are a different animal. "Returns can be tricky," he said. "A good example is apparel, there are times where people order something online, try it on, wear it once, and then want to return it. When that comes back, if the client decides to refund, we have to do our due diligence." He added, "Returns involve a lot of subjectivity." Subjectivity is poison in a warehouse unless you have guardrails built into the system.

A reverse logistics 3PL does not eliminate subjectivity, but it reduces the chaos. It gives the warehouse team defined steps so that every returned item follows a consistent flow instead of a guessing game.

Where bad reverse logistics destroys inventory accuracy

If your returns are handled without scanning, structure, or accountability, your inventory will never be accurate. Returns sit on carts, in corners, or in mislabeled bins. Your system shows zero when you have stock. It shows stock when you have nothing. Everything downstream suffers: forecasting, ad spend, channel availability, and even cash planning.

Connor has heard the same story from brands coming from weaker providers. "One of the pain points our clients have experienced with previous 3PLs is inventory accuracy; maybe their previous 3PL was not great at picking the orders accurately. So they were losing money by shipping wrong items or wrong quantities of items." The same sloppiness shows up in reverse logistics. If your provider cannot ship the right thing out, they definitely cannot process the right thing coming back.

The channel complexity a reverse logistics 3PL must handle

Reverse logistics grows more complicated the moment you sell across channels. A return from Shopify is simple. A return from Amazon may require specific barcodes, relabeling, or recovery workflows. A wholesale return might arrive by the pallet and require counting, sorting, and detailed reconciliation.

Jen Myers, Chief Marketing Officer at G10, described how brands evolve into this complexity. "We have some customers that come in and build a successful business. They go B2B primarily, and then they know they have to be successful in the D2C space or e-commerce. And they know Amazon is the big gorilla in that space, but maybe they do not know how to navigate it." She added, "It is still e-commerce, right? And so it is still the same beast in a different skin."

A reverse logistics 3PL has to recognize those different skins. It must know which items go back into D2C stock, which return to a retailer, which need repackaging, and which must be quarantined until a brand decides next steps.

Where HAZMAT rules break normal returns flows

For some catalogs, reverse logistics is not just complicated. It is regulated. Batteries, flammables, adhesives, and industrial goods cannot be returned with generic labels or handled by untrained staff. They require certified processes and infrastructure.

Kay Hillmann, Director of Vendor Operations at G10, pointed out why so many brands get this wrong. "A lot of people do not realize that because you have to be a certified shipper, you cannot send returns back," she said. "I cannot get a power station, for example, and then put a return label on it and ship it back, because there is no infrastructure." She added, "I would be liable giving you a return label to ship it back."

A true reverse logistics 3PL protects you from that liability. They know what can come back, what cannot, and how to keep every part of the process compliant.

The technology backbone that makes reverse logistics work

Reverse logistics cannot run on sticky notes or spreadsheets. It requires a warehouse management system that tracks every movement. Without that, you are guessing.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO at G10, described what strong tracking looks like. "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it," he said. In his world, the system can say, "At any point in time, I know that Bobby has this product on fork 10 right now." That level of visibility is what makes reverse logistics predictable instead of chaotic.

When a reverse logistics 3PL uses its WMS correctly, every returned unit gains a status, a location, and a clear next step. That gives your team clean data, not mysteries.

Why visibility matters as much as execution

Even the best reverse logistics is useless if you cannot see what is happening. Brands want answers, not updates. They want to know when items arrive, when they are inspected, and what decisions were made.

Maureen Milligan, Director of Operations and Projects at G10, said it clearly. Clients expect "100 percent visibility" and the ability to "watch that progression throughout the stages of the fulfillment process." When reverse logistics sits inside that same visibility layer, brands stop chasing information and start making decisions.

Why the human layer still matters in reverse logistics

Software can route a return. Software cannot walk to a pallet, open a box, and explain what happened. That is why a reverse logistics 3PL needs real people invested in each account.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, explained what goes wrong at other 3PLs. "It is an offshore team," he said, and the response is usually, "'We are looking into this.'" That tells you nothing. At G10 he said, "Every single account at G10 has a direct point of contact," and if something is unclear, "you can either email or call your direct point of contact. It is that simple."

Reverse logistics is full of exceptions. You need someone who can handle exceptions without turning them into crises.

Where stability becomes a long term advantage

Reverse logistics depends on consistency. When your 3PL churns employees or clients constantly, they lose their grip on details. Errors multiply.

Matt Bradbury, Director of Sales at G10, highlighted why stability matters. "We have a very low churn rate," he said. "As far as industry standard goes, we have to be well below the norm. We churn fewer customers, and we churn fewer employees." In reverse logistics, that consistency means cleaner workflows and fewer surprises.

When you are ready for reverse logistics to stop holding you back

If returns already feel like they are slowing down your growth, it is time for a reverse logistics 3PL designed for the messy half of the business. G10 Fulfillment has built its processes, team, and technology around that reality. From scan based check ins to HAZMAT expertise to direct human support, they turn reverse flows into an advantage instead of a drain.

If you are ready to take returns off your plate and put them into a system that works, reach out to G10 Fulfillment. Let their team handle the complexity so you can put your energy back into growth.