For UK sellers, returns are almost impossible to completely avoid. After a consumer initiates a return due to changes in size, style, purchase plan, etc., the product will re-enter the seller's logistics system.

Many sellers think that as long as they have a local return address in the UK, their after-sales problems will be solved. But in fact, the return processing actually begins after the goods are returned.

After the goods are returned to the UK, should they be scrapped directly and disposed of at a low price, or should they be sold again after quality inspection, label change, and repackaging? Different handling methods may result in completely different losses.

Therefore, what UK sellers really need to pay attention to is not where the goods are returned, but how much value can be recovered from the returned goods?

How much will you lose if you return a product?

Assume that a UK seller generates 100 returns per month, and the average product value is £40, then about £4,000 of goods enter the return link every month. But that doesn't mean all of the £4,000 will be lost. What really needs attention is how to deal with this batch of returned goods after they come back.

If the goods are not inspected and classified in a timely manner after they are returned to the UK, costs such as return logistics, warehousing, and manual processing may be incurred. Goods that have been overstocked for a long time may further depreciate due to problems with the sales cycle, packaging or labeling.

What's more, the sales value of the item itself may be directly wasted.

For example, a piece of clothing with damaged packaging may be regarded as unsaleable inventory if there is no ability to repackage it; a product that is intact but has a damaged label may also be backlogged for a long time because it cannot be put on the shelves directly.

Therefore, what sellers really need to optimize is not just the return shipping cost, but the loss in the entire process from the return of the returned goods to the regeneration of sales value.

Return ≠ scrap, first determine whether it can still be sold

Goods returned by consumers are not necessarily defective. Especially in categories such as clothing, shoes and hats, some products may have only been worn, or there may be problems with packaging or labels, but the products themselves still have sales value.

At this time, return quality inspection becomes an important part of inventory revitalization. After the goods are returned to the overseas warehouse, you can first check the appearance, packaging and actual status, and then classify them according to the results: if the goods are in good condition, they can be re-entered into sales inventory after quality inspection; if the packaging is damaged, they can be repackaged; if the labels are damaged, they can be replaced or labeled; for goods that need simple sorting, they can be ironed, folded, etc. before being sold; for goods that are truly unsaleable, scrapping or other disposal methods should be considered.

To put it simply, it is to first determine how much value the returned goods have, and then decide what to do with it. Otherwise, a batch of goods that could still be sold may directly become dead inventory due to lack of processing capabilities.

How can a complete set of reverse logistics help sellers reduce losses?

True reverse logistics is not simply to provide a return address, but to complete the processing process after the goods are returned.

A relatively complete set of UK return processing links can be: consumer returns → UK warehouse receipt → return quality inspection → product grading → label change/repackaging → resending or secondary sales.

Among them, quality inspection addresses whether the goods can still be sold, product grading addresses how to deal with different states, labeling and repackaging address how to return some returns to sales status, and reissuance or secondary sales return the processed merchandise to the sales link.

Therefore, the value of reverse logistics is not to allow sellers to receive fewer returns, but to minimize the loss of each returned item from selling inventory to worthless inventory.

U-Speed UK returns warehouse, allowing returns to regain value

If the existing overseas warehouse can only handle delivery and basic return receipt, but cannot complete the post-return processing, then the professional British return warehouse can further undertake this part of the reverse logistics demand.

U-Speed UK returns warehouse can provide sellers with one-stop service from return receipt, return quality inspection to follow-up processing. After the goods are returned, quality inspection and classification can be carried out according to the seller's requirements, and the actual status of the goods can be fed back through photos and other methods; for qualified goods, further processing such as labeling, labeling, repackaging, ironing, folding, etc. can be carried out to help the goods return to sales status, and subsequent re-issuance or secondary sales can be carried out according to the seller's business needs.

This processing capability is especially important for categories such as clothing, shoes and hats. Because many times, what determines whether a returned product will continue to generate value or become a loss of inventory is not whether the consumer returns it, but whether the consumer has the ability to handle it well after returning it.

Calculate the cost of returns first, and then decide how to optimize

If you still don’t know how much your UK returns cost every month, you can start with data such as monthly order volume, average customer price, monthly return volume and sales countries.

The WeChat applet launched by U-Speed - Overseas Return Assistant can help sellers quickly calculate return costs. After inputting relevant business data, you can more intuitively understand your return costs, and then combined with the actual return volume to determine which links are worth optimizing.

For British sellers with a large volume of returns, instead of waiting for the returned inventory to accumulate before considering how to deal with it, it is better to calculate clearly first: How many products leave the sales link due to returns every month? How much of the value can actually be recovered?

Returns are not the end of the inventory value. For British sellers, a truly valuable return warehouse not only provides a British return address, but also helps sellers connect the post-return processing links so that the goods that can be sold can continue to be sold and valuable inventory can be returned to the sales link as much as possible.