How does Amazon manage its reverse supply chain

Reverse logistics amazon. Still have a question? Ask your own! Amazon has multiple solutions in place to handle their customer returns. The majority are handled by Genco (which Fedex recently acquired). However there are a portion of returns that are handled internally and resold as Amazon Warehouse Deals. The internal process is undoubtably in place to enhance the recovery value and take some of the financial sting out of returns. I once heard this referred to as "an accidental business" by an Amazon employee. Genco can handle just about any reverse logistics problem, however they are not the best equipped to extract the highest recovery value. In addition, Amazon has such an astounding volume of returns that in addition to Genco, several other smaller vendors are involved. The short answer: Amazon manages its reverse supply chain through a combination of 3rd party vendors and organic resources. promoted by Tipalti. I don't know a whole lot about this, but I can tell you one key thing that Amazon does that has absolutely transformed reverse logistics for publishing. Until Amazon came along most books were sold to booksellers on a sort of contingency basis where unlimited quantities of books could be returned to publishers up to 6 or 12 months after publication date. The result was huge quantities of remainders many of which wound up being pulped in very inefficient ways. Although Amazon accepts book returns, the % returned is very low - around 1% -- compared to 40 or 50 or 60% in the traditional model. Thus Amazon's reverse logistics are infinitely better managed and less burdensome than for traditional booksellers. I suspect the same is broadly true for other goods where Amazon accepts returns but they are much less prevalent than at traditional retail outlets.