DC Velocity - June 2012

ADVERTORIAL
INTERNATIONAL RETURNS
MADE EASY

UPS has simplified the process for high-tech international returns with options that provide comprehensive visibility, speed, and customer convenience.

LET’S FACE IT – returns are a pain for any supply chain. The pain is even greater when dealing with international returns. The hassle experienced by both the shipper and the customer is often stated as a hindrance for high-tech companies wanting to expand beyond their borders. Yet it is a puzzle they must solve to enter new markets.

“The beauty of today’s wired world is that a customer can order from anywhere worldwide,” explains Greg Kane, director of worldwide products – corporate international marketing at UPS. But an important key to international sales is to have a returns process that is fast, reliable, and consistent for shippers and their customers.

On average, about 10 percent of purchased items will come back as returns. Dealing with these returns efficiently and accurately can be a differentiator for companies. “While some distributors think of returns as a pain, others see it as an opportunity,” says Carla Huang, UPS’s director of marketing for the high-tech segment. She explains that according to reverse logistics consulting firm Greve-Davis, only about 20 percent of returned high-tech goods are actually defective. The rest are returned for a variety of reasons, such as the customer has changed his mind or the product did not meet the exact technical specifications. Receiving returned items quickly is crucial because getting products back into inventory helps high-tech companies maximize the value captured from returns.

Managing international returns can be challenging. Products are often returned by carriers offering little to no tracking. Incorrect return labeling may direct shipments to the wrong location. Customs holds and international duties can cause delays, while answering returns-related questions increases customer care costs. To be

efficient and compete successfully in the global market, high-tech companies need to streamline international returns management.

UPS offers a number of services to professionally handle returns worldwide. The services, which vary in availability by destination and servicing country, are designed to increase efficiency, provide end-to-end visibility, and improve the overall customer experience within the 145 nations where UPS has a presence.

UPS helps high-tech companies accommodate the needs of their customers, making international returns easy. Service options vary based on origin and destination countries, but include:

UPS Returns® Offers four ways to provide a return label to your customers including in the original shipment, through the mail, via e-mail or self-service printing from the Web.

UPS Returns® Plus Arranges for UPS to pick up a return at your customer’s location, making up to 3 attempts depending on the service level.

UPS Returns® Flexible Access Allows your customers using a unique shipping label to drop returns at any UPS or USPS® location, including their own mailbox.

UPS Returns® Exchange Streamlines the returns cycle, allowing a UPS driver to deliver a replacement item and pick up a like return item during the same visit.

In many instances, shippers have the ability to designate how they want the product returned to them—by express, second-day, ground service, etc.—depending on availability within each market.

“UPS wants to make the customer experience in returns as easy as possible, so that when the customer thinks of purchasing again, he will go back to the company where he purchased the item, knowing it is a standardized process that is painless,” says Huang.