Sustainable reverse supply chains and circular economy in multichannel retail returns
Sustainable reverse supply chains and circular economy in multichannel retail returns
The percentage of products being returned in multichannel retail are high and further increasing, yet many retailers and manufacturers are unaware of the importance and scale of this issue. They consider dealing with returns as a cost of doing business and are oblivious of the potential for conflicts between their corporate social responsibility commitments and their returns practices. This article investigates how far sustainable practices and circular economy concepts have been implemented in retail returns systems; it identifies vulnerabilities, barriers, and challenges to the implementation of sustainable, circular practices and suggests ways to overcome them, as sustainability, loss prevention, and profit optimisation can go hand in hand with the right approach to the organisation of the reverse supply chain. Implications of this research on strategic management are outlined. The research was conducted using in-depth interviews and observations with four major retailers in the United Kingdom, 17 structured interviews, 100 retailer website reviews, and three retail community workshops, all with British and other European retailers.
circular economy, multichannel retail, product returns, reverse logistics, reverse supply chains, sustainability
1925-1940
Frei, Regina
fa00170f-356a-4a0d-8030-d137fd855880
Jack, Lisa
a6ce44ff-fb81-4997-a9fd-772225b587ce
Krzyzaniak, Sally-Ann Caroline
ca10bad7-a2cf-4234-a8b9-9e14a15d67ff
1 July 2020
Frei, Regina
fa00170f-356a-4a0d-8030-d137fd855880
Jack, Lisa
a6ce44ff-fb81-4997-a9fd-772225b587ce
Krzyzaniak, Sally-Ann Caroline
ca10bad7-a2cf-4234-a8b9-9e14a15d67ff
Frei, Regina, Jack, Lisa and Krzyzaniak, Sally-Ann Caroline
(2020)
Sustainable reverse supply chains and circular economy in multichannel retail returns.
Business Strategy and the Environment, 29 (5), .
(doi:10.1002/bse.2479).
Abstract
The percentage of products being returned in multichannel retail are high and further increasing, yet many retailers and manufacturers are unaware of the importance and scale of this issue. They consider dealing with returns as a cost of doing business and are oblivious of the potential for conflicts between their corporate social responsibility commitments and their returns practices. This article investigates how far sustainable practices and circular economy concepts have been implemented in retail returns systems; it identifies vulnerabilities, barriers, and challenges to the implementation of sustainable, circular practices and suggests ways to overcome them, as sustainability, loss prevention, and profit optimisation can go hand in hand with the right approach to the organisation of the reverse supply chain. Implications of this research on strategic management are outlined. The research was conducted using in-depth interviews and observations with four major retailers in the United Kingdom, 17 structured interviews, 100 retailer website reviews, and three retail community workshops, all with British and other European retailers.
Text
sustainability_article_v8_for_review
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 29 January 2020
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 February 2020
Published date: 1 July 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the ECR Community Shrink and On-shelf Availability Group for supporting this research project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment
Keywords:
circular economy, multichannel retail, product returns, reverse logistics, reverse supply chains, sustainability
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 437689
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/437689
ISSN: 0964-4733
PURE UUID: c65de1a1-693f-4c2f-8053-655de12ab30d
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Date deposited: 11 Feb 2020 17:35
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 05:17
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Contributors
Author:
Regina Frei
Author:
Lisa Jack
Author:
Sally-Ann Caroline Krzyzaniak
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