With the emergence and advancement in technology, the current business world has transformed significantly. Through such progressions, E-business and reverse logistics have become vital parts of many organizations. E-business is a wide ideology that describes activities where businesses are constantly redesigning their business services, process, and structures in a bid to take advantage of internet capabilities ( Jackson et al., 2003 ). It entails the use of internet to empower various business process such as communication and collaboration with stakeholders. On the other hand, reverse logistics entails facilitating the movement of from the consumer to the point of origin.
The Origin of E-business and Reverse Logistics
E-business originated with increasing electronic channels to facilitate the sale of goods. For the past few decades, most people have continued to purchase goods through online networks, and it is becoming a popular trend. Consequently, the trend of the internet of things played a significant role in the emergence and progression of E-business. However, it is imperative to note that e-businesses lack of physical stores and face-to-face interaction between sellers and customers. As a result, this creates a high possibility of an increased number of products being returned after delivery (Dissanayake & Singh, 2008). These scenarios meant it was becoming increasingly important to develop efficient reverse logistics systems that would help in handling returns. Therefore, the more the E-business continued to grow, the more it created the importance of developing an efficient and effective system of reverse logistics.
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Goods being returned to the point of origin has become a common case in e-business because customers purchase goods virtually, and this may cause wrong assumptions regarding the size and quality (Dissanayake & Singh, 2008). After being delivered to customers, they realize the mistake and hence, return the product. Sometimes, there is the dissimilarity between images portrayed on the online and the actual product, and this is another major cause of return products (Dissanayake & Singh, 2008). For these reasons, stakeholders in E-business were forced to create a system that would help in managing returns in terms of the number and when to return the products. This necessity marked the origin of a reverse logistic system that would not only help in the effective management of return products, but also enhance how to support customers and influence them to trust in e-business (Dissanayake & Singh, 2008). For these reasons, it is plausible to say that as technological advances continue to support business via electronic channels, the more reverse logistics continued to gain exceptional importance.
Ways E-Business and Reverse Logistics Work Together
E-business and reverse logistics work together in diverse ways. First, when there is an effective reverse logistic system, it becomes easier to regain value. This is notable when this system facilitates the reuse and discarding of commercial returns and excess inventory (Kokkinake et al., 2002). It also facilitates the collection, dissembling, and processing of used parts and this will help businesses to regain value. Secondly, when a reverse logistic system is working effectively, it allows online business to create and maintain competitiveness. For instance, when e-businesses handle returns from customers efficiently, it creates more opportunities for improving customer services and increasing profits (Kokkinake et al., 2002). Further, one of the primary purposes of reverse logistics is to minimize returns as well as handling them efficiently when they occur. More so, returns from customers due to impulse buying is higher in e-business compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar business. This implies that the importance of these systems, in this case, cannot be overlooked. Therefore, it is conclusive that e-business and reverse logistics cannot work in isolation (Kokkinake et al., 2002). Additionally, e-business experience uncertainties regarding returns and this make planning and management a difficult task. However, if there is a reverse logistic system that is working efficiently, it becomes easier for e-business to manage and respond to returns from customers. It will help companies dealing with online shopping to ensure that their competitiveness and value-creation are not affected by poor handling of return products. The emphasis, in this case, is that e-business cannot run effectively if it does not have a system to deal with products that are returned by customers.
Future of E-business and Reverse Logistics
As noted, e-business needs to have strong reverse logistic systems to enable them to deal with returns through their networks. At the same time, e-business activities are increasing across the globe. Therefore, in the future, it is important to investigate how the two concepts will increasingly meet the consumer demands with a simple return process (Burnson, 2020). The trends on reverse logistics should be improved to ensure that they will help e-businesses to remain competitive even in cases of return products. For instance, it is observable that shipping return products pose a challenge in processing time and liquidation recovery. These challenges can cause losses, especially, when the quality and value of the return products have depreciated (Burnson, 2020). Therefore, in the future, it is recommendable to develop systems that will be time-sensitive and reduce return rates. In other words, as customers continue to buy and return products through online platforms, a reverse logistic system should come in handy. For instance, the omnichannel retailing should be integrated with e-business to enhance the shopping experience of online consumers (Burnson, 2020). This is an approach that will help to reduce the rates of return products as e-business continues to evolve. The most important thing is for companies engaging in e-business to ensure that their reverse logistic systems can effectively handle the products that customers return due to factors related to quality, customer needs, and functionality.
References
Burnson, P. (2020). Reverse Logistics Rides High on the Wave of E-Commerce. Retrieved from:
https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/reverse_logistics_rides_high_on_the_wave_of_e-commerce
Dissanayake, D., & Singh, M. (2008). Managing returns in e-business. Journal of Internet
Commerce , 6 (2), 35-49. https://doi.org/10.1300/J179v06n02_04
Jackson, P. J., Harris, L., & Eckersley, P. M. (Eds.). (2003). E-business fundamentals .
Psychology Press.
Kokkinaki, A. I., Dekker, R., De Koster, M. B. M., Pappis, C., & Verbeke, W. J. M. I. (2002,
April). E-business models for reverse logistics: Contributions and challenges. In Proceedings. International Conference on Information Technology: Coding and Computing (pp. 470-476). IEEE.
