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Investigating Returns Management across E-Commerce Sectors and Countries: Trends, Perspectives, and Future Research

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  • Anthony Boyd Stevenson

    (Institute for Business Administration and Information Systems, University of Hildesheim, Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany)

  • Julia Rieck

    (Institute for Business Administration and Information Systems, University of Hildesheim, Universitätsplatz 1, 31141 Hildesheim, Germany)

Abstract

Background : The systematic literature review with additional descriptive analysis at hand focuses on analysing returns management in e-commerce, which is an increasingly critical issue as the volume of online shopping is rising. Methods : Drawing from a comprehensive search of academic databases and a manual review of Google Scholar, 54 articles dating from 2007 onwards were collected and fully read. Results : The review reveals a main research effort emerging mainly from Germany and other countries, with a notable focus on fashion retail. The bulk of these studies aim to understand and reduce the frequency of customer returns, addressing a substantial operational challenge for online retailers. The findings provide multiple research streams extracted from the collected literature and combined to an overview. Conclusions : Through this, there are tendencies which can be interpreted to derive the evolution of the research field. The illustrated results in this review paint a detailed picture of the existing research landscape. This highlights the importance of ongoing research, which, e.g., holds potential benefits for customer satisfaction and environmental sustainability. The review also lists future research directions, recommending the continued investigation of areas such as predictive analytics and customer behaviour to further refine returns management practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Anthony Boyd Stevenson & Julia Rieck, 2024. "Investigating Returns Management across E-Commerce Sectors and Countries: Trends, Perspectives, and Future Research," Logistics, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-37, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlogis:v:8:y:2024:i:3:p:82-:d:1456666
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Xu, Xun & Jackson, Jonathan E., 2019. "Investigating the influential factors of return channel loyalty in omni-channel retailing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 118-132.
    2. Overstreet, Robert E. & Morgan, Tyler R. & Laczniak, Russell N. & Daugherty, Patricia J., 2022. "Stemming the tide of increasing retail returns: Implications of targeted returns policies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 551-562.
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