Geodis has unveiled two innovative returns solutions designed to streamline the increasingly complex world of reverse logistics.
As e-commerce continues its rapid expansion, the volume of product returns has surged, presenting significant challenges for retailers. Geodis’s new offerings, a returns workflow automation module and a returns management module, aim to address these demands by enhancing efficiency and optimizing the entire returns cycle. While best leveraged in tandem, these modules can also function independently, offering flexibility to Geodis’s diverse clientele, the company said in a release.
The returns workflow automation module is a consumer-centric, self-service portal that simplifies the initiation of returns or exchanges. This user-friendly interface allows end consumers to generate return shipping labels, removing the need for direct shipper involvement. This automatic label generation serves as an advanced shipping notice for Geodis, eliminating the manual creation of entries within the warehouse management system. The technology is engineered to improve speed, reduce cycle times, and optimize costs, benefiting both Geodis customers and their end consumers.
Built as a cloud-native solution, this module integrates seamlessly with popular e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce, WooCommerce, and Magento, providing comprehensive visibility from the moment a return is created through product disposition and refund. Geodis clients can personalize the portal with their own branding, including logos, colors, fonts, and messaging. The highly customizable solution also empowers clients to tailor returns policies to their specific requirements, ensuring consistency in the customer experience. Furthermore, it offers advanced and configurable reporting capabilities, and multilingual support for English, Spanish, and Portuguese, for a localized returns experience for consumers in the United States, Canada, and Latin America.
On the release, Pal Narayanan, executive vice president and chief information officer at Geodis in the Americas, noted the business-critical nature of returns optimization. He emphasized that the new modules were designed for adaptability and scalability, catering to an array of client needs to bolster their reverse logistics strategies in a quickly evolving environment.
The returns management module focuses on optimizing the reverse logistics process within the warehouse. Upon receiving a return, the module swiftly assesses the product and its value, categorizing it for reintroduction into inventory, refurbishment, or disposal due to damage. Retailers can customize how items are classified and processed, aligning with their individual returns strategies.
This module also delivers real-time visibility into inventory levels, alongside robust reporting features. These include SKU-level insights that identify frequently returned products, pinpointing potential issues. The reporting capabilities can enhance overall retail operations, including sustainability efforts, by uncovering consumer return patterns and trends. For instance, data-driven insights can help retailers stock more efficiently, determine which returns are suitable for re-entry into inventory to reduce unnecessary disposal, and identify product issues to lower the likelihood of future returns, reducing associated emissions and packaging materials.
Both the returns workflow automation module and the returns management module are now accessible to Geodis contract logistics and transportation customers across the Americas region.
