Optimal Design of Customer Returns Policy and its Impact on Supply Chain

产品退货已成为零售业面临的一大挑战，因为退货数量庞大且成本高昂；2013年加拿大的平均客户回报率为8.9%，回报的货币价值为280亿美元。一些时尚单品的退货率高达74%。然而，研究表明，只有大约5%的顾客退货是由于产品缺陷。客户退货政策从“100%退款保证”到“不退款”不等。它们影响顾客的购买和退货决策，以及零售商的定价和订单决策，从而影响供应链的绩效和盈利能力。产品的回收、加工、转售、再利用和/或处置也会对环境和社会产生影响，因此对供应链的可持续性至关重要。***顾客退货最近在学术界和实践中都引起了很大的关注。然而，关于最优顾客退货政策结构设计及其对供应链影响的研究却相当有限。通过我过去几年的探索，我发现了与客户回报相关的重大研究空白，我建议阐明：1)一个更准确的客户回报模型，包括购买前后的客户评估，以及相关的最优客户回报政策；2)定制化、动态的退货政策，针对不同客户、不同时间段提供不同的退货政策；3)供应链成员面临竞争时，结合库存和价格决策的顾客退货策略优化设计；4)多渠道供应链中制造商回购政策与零售商退货政策的整合；5)顾客最优退货政策设计对供应链可持续性的影响。这些将通过数学建模，使用定量方法，如优化和博弈论来完成。***本研究量化了与产品退货相关的经济和环境影响因素，并通过优化设计顾客退货政策来减轻顾客退货的负面影响。本文提出的研究方案具有新颖性和创新性，考虑了现有文献中未讨论或新出现的最优退货政策设计因素和问题：顾客先验和后见值的变化、供应链竞争和可持续性、定制化和动态的顾客退货政策以及与回购政策的整合。该研究计划为供应链成员提供了战略机会，通过设计最优的退货政策来提高效率和可持续发展。它还将使学术界和工业界受益，因为它填补了知识方面的重大空白，为培养未来的研究人员提供了机会，并帮助加拿大公司在日益复杂的全球经济中竞争

Product returns have become a major challenge in the retail industry, as they are both significant and costly; the average customer returns rate is 8.9% and the monetary value of returns was $28 billion in 2013 in Canada. Return rates of some fashion items can be as high as 74%. Research, however, shows that only about 5% of customer returns are due to defects. Customer returns policies range from “100% Money Back Guarantees” to “no refunds.” They influence customers' purchase and returns decisions as well as retailers' pricing and order decisions, and thus impact the performance and profitability of supply chains. The return, processing, resale, reuse, and/or disposal of products also have environmental and social consequences, and are therefore critical to supply chain sustainability.***Customer returns have recently attracted much attention in both academia and practice. Studies of the design of optimal customer returns policy structures and their impact on supply chains, however, are rather limited. Through my explorations over the past several years, I have identified significant research gaps related to customer returns, and I propose to elucidate: 1) a more accurate customer returns model, incorporating customer valuations prior to and after purchase, and the associated optimal customer returns policy; 2) customized and dynamic returns policies, offering different policies to different customers and in different time periods; 3) optimal design of customer returns policy in conjunction with inventory and pricing decisions when supply chain members face competition; 4) integration of a manufacturer's buyback policy and retailers' customer returns policies in the multi-channel supply chain; and 5) impact of the optimal customer returns policy design on supply chain sustainability. These will be done through mathematical modelling, using quantitative methods, such as optimization and game theory.***The proposed research quantifies factors of economic and environmental significance associated with product returns, and mitigates the negative impact of customer returns through optimal design of customer returns policies. The research program proposed is novel and innovative in considering factors and issues either not discussed or newly emerging in the existing literature on design of optimal returns policy: change of customers' prior and posterior values, supply chain competition and sustainability, customized and dynamic customer returns policies, and integration with buyback policies. The research program provides strategic opportunities for supply chain members to be more efficient and sustainable through the design of optimal returns policies. It will also benefit both academia and industry, by filling significant gaps in knowledge, providing opportunities to train future researchers, and helping Canadian companies compete in an increasingly complex global economy.***