Returns Are a Business – Gen Z’s Take on Slaying the Supply Chain

Imagine this... it is Tuesday, May 31st, your first day as an intern and during your 9:15 a.m. meeting, you mention you adore going to events and writing about them. Fast forward to 5:30 p.m. that night and you are at your first networking dinner at the acclaimed Michelin Star Le Bernardin in New York City taking notes about the conversations with some of the world’s most brilliant and powerful leaders in Global Supply Chain. Yeah, that’s how my first day went. 

Because I am an intern at Berns Communications Group and a member of The Z Suite, an exclusive network for Gen Z students to connect with impactful business influencers and dealmakers in the retail, consumer, and technological spaces, I had the honor of attending this event. The prestigious Retail Influencer Network Dinner brought together 40 retail executives, business influencers, and media leaders like Eddie Hertzman CEO & Founder of Sourcing Journal, Yehuda Schmidman, Chairmen & CEO of WHP, and Jennifer Gootman, VP of Social Innovation and Corporate Social Responsibility at Williams-Sonoma, to name a few. 

Over the exquisite courses of dinner and dessert, we had a stimulating conversation led by CNBC’s Brian Sullivan between Amit Sharma, Founder & CEO of Narvar, and Shekar Natarajan, EVP, Chief Supply Chain Officer of American Eagle Outfitters. Narvar offers services to companies that improve the post-purchase experience and AEO has recently acquired Quiet Platforms, which has reduced the company’s delivery times by 35%. Both businesses are disrupting and untangling the supply chain as we know it and here’s what I learned. 

·       Returns are a business – The back end is the new front end, a source of income. The quicker a brand can logistically acquire a return the faster it can be resold. “We see a lift in conversion rate when we give a promise date.” - Amit Sharma, Founder & CEO of Narvar.

·       To compete you must collaborate – To keep up with the likes of huge conglomerates like Amazon and Walmart, it is going to become necessary for all other retailers to band together and take a cut of the supply chain. Collaboration is a smarter way to conduct business and it is important for retailers and brands to build a shared supply chain network that enhances the customer's post-purchase experience. 

·       Buyers track their packages 3.5 times before they get delivered – Customers still want instant gratification. The consumer desires information on their goods. The transaction is complete at the time of delivery and there is an information gap between purchasing and receiving goods and that is what consumers are looking to fill. 

I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn more about technology reforming the supply chain industry in the most ethical way. It gives me hope for the future. Shekar Natarajan said it best, “I love Elon Musk, he wants to go live on Mars in 20 years from now, and he's earned that right, but I think we can make Mother Earth better.” These conversations show that it is possible to make the way we do business better.