Return flow

July 16, 2026

The return flow is the movement of returned products throughout the entire chain of reverse logistics.

It encompasses the process of returning, receiving, inspecting, processing, and potentially restocking or disposing of returned items in accordance with your store's return policy .

What types of return flows are there?

For online stores, returns are significantly more painful than for brick-and-mortar retailers; these two return flows differ quite a bit.

Online stores experience more pain from returns than physical stores due to transportation costs and depreciation.

Compared to physical stores, online shops are much less able to resell returned products at the regular price, even if they are still in good condition.

Returned items often show signs of use, such as opened and resealed packaging or damaged original boxes. As a result, online stores must sell these products at a lower price than if they had been tried on in a fitting room, which leads to significant depreciation costs.

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