The $850 Billion Returns Problem: Why Reverse Logistics Is Becoming a Margin Engine

Retailers have spent the last decade trying to make the forward supply chain faster.
The next margin battle may be going the other way.
The National Retail Federation projected that U.S. retail returns would reach $849.9 billion in 2025. Online return rates were expected to reach 19.3%. That is no longer an edge process hiding behind the loading dock. It is an economic system large enough to influence inventory, labor, transportation, fraud, customer loyalty, working capital, and ultimately marg