Reverse Supply Chain Strategies That Keep E-commerce Moving

Why the reverse supply chain determines how well your business recovers from problems

Every ecommerce brand celebrates outbound shipping. It is fast, shiny, and easy to promote. But the other half of the loop, the reverse supply chain, decides whether you stay profitable when products come back. This workflow carries every return, exchange, inspection, and restocking decision. When it works well, you recover margin, protect customer relationships, and improve forecasting. When it fails, you spend money twice: once to send the product out and again to absorb it back in.

The modern ecommerce customer expects returns to be frictionless. That expectation puts pressure on the reverse supply chain to operate with speed, clarity, and accuracy the moment an item reenters your world.

Where the reverse supply chain breaks first

The first weak link is ambiguity. Returns arrive with different reasons, different conditions, and different channel requirements. Without rules, operators must guess. Guessing creates delays and errors.

Connor Perkins, Director of Fulfillment at G10, sees this unpredictability across categories. "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."

The reverse supply chain exists to remove that subjectivity with structured workflows.

Why inventory accuracy depends on your reverse supply chain

Poor receiving, missed scans, and unclear condition coding often begin at the first touchpoint. These early mistakes ripple through inventory data. As a result the system may show more stock than you truly have or hide units that should already be available for sale.

Connor described the impact in broader operational terms. "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 reverse supply chain can create those same losses from the inbound direction.

Omnichannel selling increases pressure on the reverse supply chain

A brand that sells on Shopify, Amazon, marketplaces, retail, and wholesale faces different return rules across each channel. Amazon may require specific workflows. Wholesale returns may arrive in bulk. B2B returns may require full documentation. Treating all channels the same slows everything down.

Jen Myers, Chief Marketing Officer at G10, sees this pattern across scaling brands. "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 strong reverse supply chain must adapt to those skins to avoid bottlenecks.

The WMS foundation that keeps the reverse supply chain running

A warehouse management system gives the reverse supply chain its structure. It assigns each inbound item a path: triage, inspection, restock, quarantine, refurbishment, liquidation, or disposal. Without that structure, operators rely on memory instead of rules.

Bryan Wright, CTO and COO at G10, described what real visibility looks like. "A good WMS tracks inventory through the warehouse at every point that you touch it," he said. "At any point in time, I know that Bobby has this product on fork 10 right now."

The reverse supply chain needs that precision at every step to avoid misrouting and delays.

Why visibility matters more in the reverse direction

Forward logistics give customers tracking numbers. Reverse logistics must do the same. Customers want to know when the return is received, when inspection is complete, and when the refund or exchange will be released. Visibility reduces anxiety, reduces tickets, and restores trust.

Maureen Milligan, Director of Operations and Projects at G10, explains the expectation clearly. Customers want "100 percent visibility" and want to "watch that progression throughout the stages of the fulfillment process."

Why the reverse supply chain still needs human judgment

Automation handles the bulk of reverse logistics, but people still carry the edge cases. A customer returns the wrong item. A product arrives damaged. A barcode is missing. The system needs humans to keep exceptions from stalling the entire workflow.

Joel Malmquist, VP of Customer Experience at G10, explained why human access matters. "It is an offshore team," he said of many providers, and merchants hear only, "'We are looking into this.'" He contrasted that with G10. "Every single account at G10 has a direct point of contact. You can either email or call your direct point of contact. It is that simple."

Reverse logistics depends on that immediacy when something unusual arrives.

Stable warehouse teams make the reverse supply chain stronger

A reverse supply chain works only when operators understand product categories, channel rules, and inspection standards. High turnover introduces errors and slows everything down.

Matt Bradbury, Director of Sales at G10, described the advantage of stability. "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."

Experienced teams produce consistent outcomes, which keeps the reverse supply chain predictable.

Turning the reverse supply chain into a competitive advantage

A well built reverse supply chain protects margin, improves forecasting, strengthens customer loyalty, and reduces operational waste. Brands that take it seriously outperform those that treat returns as a nuisance. G10 Fulfillment builds reverse supply chain workflows with WMS visibility, channel aware logic, stable teams, and real human support at every step.

If your reverse supply chain feels slow, inconsistent, or confusing today, upgrading this workflow may be the fastest way to improve customer satisfaction and operational reliability.