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Reverse Logistics & Returns Management Services
Turn Product Returns into a Competitive Advantage
Product returns are inevitable, but lost time, revenue, and reputation don’t have to be. Whether due to defects, customer preferences, or incorrect orders, how your business handles reverse logistics can make or break your brand reputation and bottom line.
As a trusted Canadian third-party logistics (3PL) provider with over 75 years of experience, McKenna Logistics Centres helps international brands and fast-growing Canadian businesses turn complex reverse logistics into streamlined, cost-saving operations. With our professional, hands-on returns management solutions, your products never have to pass through your hands again.
What Is Reverse Logistics?
Turn Returns into Opportunities with Smart Supply Chain Solutions
Reverse logistics manages the backward flow of goods through the supply chain—from the end customer back to the retailer, distributor, or manufacturer. It encompasses all the critical “R’s” of product recovery: returns, repairs, repackaging, recycling, and resale. Every item is evaluated, processed, and either re-entered into inventory or directed to its next best destination.
The power of reverse logistics lies in its ability to recover value, minimize waste, and improve the customer experience. When managed efficiently, it transforms a once burdensome process into a strategic advantage for your business.
Our Reverse Logistics Services
Flexible, Full-Service Returns Solutions Built Around Your Business
At McKenna Logistics Centres, we provide a comprehensive suite of reverse logistics services tailored to support a variety of industries and product types. Whether you’re dealing with high-volume returns from retail channels or small-batch eCommerce shipments, we offer the tools, expertise, and scalability to keep your reverse supply chain moving.
Our Core Returns Management Services Include:
Return Product Inspection
Every returned item is assessed for condition and accuracy upon arrival at our facilities. Our trained team determines the appropriate next steps—whether to restock, refurbish, or dispose—based on your pre-approved protocols.
Repackaging & Relabeling
Returned items that are undamaged or returned due to non-quality-related reasons (like buyer’s remorse) are repackaged and relabeled on-site. This helps you get products back into sellable condition quickly, maximizing resale opportunities.
Return-to-Origin Coordination
Products that need to be sent back to vendors, repair centers, or designated facilities are handled seamlessly. We manage outbound logistics, documentation, and compliance, taking this operational burden off your plate.
Restocking & Inventory Re-entry
Eligible items are reintegrated into your inventory system directly from our warehouses. We update inventory counts, apply new barcodes if needed, and prepare items for fast turnaround and resale.
Eco-Friendly Disposal & Destruction
For items that cannot be salvaged, we ensure secure and environmentally responsible disposal in accordance with your internal compliance standards and local regulations.
Returns Reporting
Our portal gives you real-time access to inventory stock levels, including return reasons and processing timelines. Use these reports to refine product strategy, reduce returns, and improve customer satisfaction.
Why Choose McKenna Logistics Centres for Reverse Logistics?
Trusted by Global and Growing Brands Across Canada
Reverse logistics done right does more than just manage returns—it helps you recover revenue, build customer loyalty, and strengthen your operational efficiency.
Whether you’re scaling up or entering the Canadian market for the first time, McKenna Logistics Centres makes returns seamless and strategic.
Here’s what sets us apart:
Recover More Product Value
Repackage and restock eligible items directly from our facilities to reduce unnecessary write-offs and maximize resale potential.
Minimize Waste & Disposal Costs
Our team evaluates every item and channels it through the most efficient outcome—resale, recycling, or responsible disposal—reducing landfill and costly returns to origin.
Improve Customer Experience
Timely, accurate returns handling keeps your customers happy and coming back. We help protect your reputation with fast, frustration-free reverse logistics.
Right-Sized for Your Business
From mass retailer operations to fast-growing independents, our services scale with your needs—no bloated fees or cookie-cutter solutions.
Lower Logistics Overhead
With our strategically placed return processing center in Canada, we help you reduce return freight, storage, and manual handling costs.
Real-Time Visibility
Stay in control of your returns pipeline. Our supply chain and logistics data solutions integrate with your systems to deliver detailed reporting and real-time inventory monitoring.
How It Works: Our Process
Make Returns Simple, Predictable, and Efficient
Here’s how we make it work:
Receive & Register Returns
Returned items are delivered to our warehouses and immediately scanned into our system. This step establishes traceability and prepares each item for fast, accurate processing.
Inspection & Condition Assessment
Our trained team inspects each product based on your pre-approved criteria. We evaluate quality, damage, and resale potential, ensuring each return is handled appropriately.
Sort by Outcome
Based on inspection results, items are sorted into their next best path: restocking, repackaging, repair, return-to-vendor, or secure, eco-friendly disposal.
Process & Execute
Once sorted, we take the required actions—relabel and repackage items for resale, prep goods for return-to-origin, or safely dispose of unsellable items in accordance with your policy.
Update & Report
Your inventory levels are updated accordingly in our portal with data downloadable in a ‘csv’ format for easy analysis. This can provide additional visibility into returns performance, volumes, and resolution timelines.
Customer-Centric Adjustments
Your business is dynamic, and so is our process. We regularly review your SOPs and return policies to ensure we’re aligned with your operational goals and evolving customer expectations.
Supporting Global Brands and Growing Canadian Companies Alike
International Brands
For global brands entering Canada, reverse logistics plays a vital role in minimizing operational risk and ensuring a smooth customer experience. With the right returns process in place, companies can maintain brand consistency across borders, protect inventory value, and build trust with Canadian consumers.
Emerging Businesses
For smaller Canadian businesses, reverse logistics provides the professionalism and structure needed to scale. Instead of manually managing returns or dealing with inconsistent processes, business owners gain peace of mind knowing that returned products are being handled efficiently, freeing up time and resources to focus on growth.
Products Ideal for Reverse Logistics
Solutions That Fit the Products You Sell
Reverse logistics isn’t just about managing returns—it’s about making the most of every product that comes back. At McKenna Logistics Centres, we support a wide range of goods that benefit from efficient, well-structured returns processing.
Whether you’re dealing with seasonal surges or steady volumes, reverse logistics helps you recover value, reduce waste, and respond quickly to customer needs, without adding strain to your internal operations.
The product categories we commonly support include:
Home & Housewares
Frequently returned due to size, style, or fit preferences, these products can often be inspected, repackaged, and reshelved quickly.
Consumer Electronics
High-value items that may require functionality checks or routing for refurbishment, secure disposal, or return-to-vendor processing.
Sporting Goods
From fitness gear to outdoor equipment, these goods benefit from timely evaluation and resale, especially during seasonal peaks.
Dry Food Products
Items with longer shelf lives that, when properly handled, can be efficiently re-integrated into your inventory.
Seasonal Merchandise
Often returned post-holiday or during off-peak cycles, seasonal goods require fast turnaround to retain their resale potential.
Regionalized Returns Advantage
Every market you import to is unique, and Canada is no exception. With McKenna Logistics Centres, your returns are processed regionally, closer to their point of origin. This reduces transportation costs, speeds up turnaround times, and keeps your customers happy with a more responsive experience.
More importantly, our deep understanding of Canadian retailer requirements and compliance standards, combined with coast-to-coast infrastructure, ensures your reverse logistics strategy is efficient, compliant, and fully aligned with your broader growth in the Canadian market.
Let’s Build Your Custom Returns Solution
Whether you’re expanding into the Canadian market or scaling your operations locally, McKenna Logistics Centres is here to make your reverse logistics simple, strategic, and seamless. With over 75 years of experience, we know what it takes to turn product returns into real results.
Ready to take the next step? Our team is here to listen, understand your needs, and recommend a tailored approach that fits your business.
Book Your Free Consultation for Reverse Logistics Services
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Reverse Logistics
1. What is the difference between reverse logistics and returns management?
Returns management is a component of reverse logistics. It focuses specifically on the process of handling returned products—receiving, inspecting, restocking, or disposing of them. Reverse logistics, on the other hand, is broader. It includes returns management as well as repairs, refurbishing, recycling, resale, and disposal—all the processes that move goods backward through the supply chain.
2. What are the key challenges in reverse logistics?
Common challenges include inconsistent return volumes, high processing costs, lack of visibility, and complex sorting or disposition decisions. Managing returns without disrupting your forward supply chain—and doing it in a way that maintains customer satisfaction—requires the right systems, facilities, and expertise.
3. What reverse logistics supply chain metrics should be monitored?
Key metrics include return rate, time to process a return, recovery rate (how much value is recaptured), cost per return, and reasons for return. Monitoring these KPIs can help you reduce waste, identify product or fulfillment issues, and improve profitability over time.
4. How are forward logistics and reverse logistics different?
Forward logistics is the traditional movement of goods from manufacturer to customer, covering production, warehousing, distribution, and delivery. Reverse logistics flows in the opposite direction, starting at the end customer and focusing on the return, repair, recycling, or disposal of goods.
5. Why is reverse logistics becoming more important in today’s market?
With the rise of eCommerce, consumer expectations for easy returns have increased. Reverse logistics plays a critical role in maintaining customer satisfaction, reducing environmental impact, and recapturing product value in an increasingly competitive and sustainability-focused market.
6. How does reverse logistics contribute to sustainability?
Reverse logistics helps reduce waste by diverting products from landfills through reuse, recycling, or resale. It also cuts down on unnecessary transportation and storage, helping lower carbon emissions and support more sustainable supply chains.
7. When should I consider outsourcing reverse logistics?
You should consider outsourcing reverse logistics when managing returns in-house becomes too costly, time-consuming, or inconsistent. If you’re expanding into new markets like Canada, scaling rapidly, dealing with complex return processes, or struggling to maintain customer satisfaction, a trusted 3PL partner can streamline operations, reduce overhead, and ensure a better experience for both your team and your customers.
8. How does onboarding work if I’m new to reverse logistics?
We walk you through the entire process—evaluating your current setup, identifying gaps, and building a reverse logistics program that fits your business. Our team ensures you feel confident from day one.
9. Is there a minimum volume to get started?
No. We offer scalable services that grow with your business, whether you’re processing daily returns or handling seasonal spikes. Like anything, you need to do a cost-benefit analysis to determine whether this is advantageous for your company. We can help with that review.
10. Can McKenna Logistics Centres handle returns across all of Canada?
Yes. With our strategically located warehousing, we process returns regionally to reduce shipping time, costs, and environmental impact—ensuring fast service for your customers coast-to-coast.
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Importing to Canada?
We serve all of Canada and we understand the unique Canadian logistics market
Looking for a Better 3PL?
Discover McKenna’s commitment to accuracy and timeliness
Ready to Grow Your Business?
If you’re getting started with mass retailers, we can help