Roundtables

Expert-led discussions for returns and reverse logistics professionals

NRF Rev Roundtables are intimate, expert-led discussions designed for returns and reverse logistics professionals. These sessions give you dedicated time to connect with peers, share challenges and crowdsource solutions in real time.

Bring your toughest returns issues to the table — and tap into the collective experience of fellow attendees who are rethinking the post-sale lifecycle.

 
A group of attendees seated in a well-lit conference hall, attentively watching a panel discussion on stage.

Circular economy & sustainability


  • Carbon footprint reduction through reverse logistics

  • Circular packaging innovation impact on returns

  • Circular/Sustainability: Lessons from Europe

  • Circularity metrics and tracking

  • Designing products for circularity: challenges and opportunities

  • Equity investments in the Secondary Market and Reverse Logistics

  • Examining how Social Responsibility and RL can do good and Impact your Bottom Line

  • Finding ESG Opportunities in RL

  • How to scale reuse and refurbishment in retail

  • Impacts of tariffs on Circularity

  • Incentivizing consumers to participate in circular programs

  • Intersection of circularity and regulatory compliance

  • Investor Corner: Investing in Circularity

  • Lifecycle thinking in supply chain design

  • Measuring circular business model ROI

  • Product Design - Designing for Circularity

  • Product Design - Using Recovered Materials

  • Role of reverse logistics in achieving ESG goals

Attendees in a session at NRF Rev

Operations & supply chain strategy


  • Auctions

  • Automotive returns/end of life/recycling

  • Bin Stores -- Promise or Peril

  • Centralized vs. decentralized returns processing

  • Cost implications of returns/End to End cost Returns

  • Designing supply chain networks for reverse logistics

  • Exporting

  • Handling hazardous or regulated returned goods

  • IT Asset Destruction Best Practices

  • Inhouse or Outsource?

  • International exports: Rules & regs

  • Inventory visibility in reverse channels

  • Managing reverse flows in a just-in-time environment

  • Managing spare parts and warranty returns

  • Off Price Retail

  • Product donations: When and why?

  • Product liquidation: Deep Dive

  • Recycling markets best practices

  • Reducing Freight Costs

  • Remanufacturing or Recycling Lithium Ion Batteries

  • Repackaging

  • Repair or recycle: Calculating the ROI

  • Returns transportation optimization

  • Reverse logistics KPIs and benchmarking

  • Reverse logistics in B2B vs. B2C contexts

  • Reverse logistics: Outsourcing pros and cons

  • Selecting a third-party logistics partner

  • Sorting and Grading Textile Returns and Donations

  • Understanding a vendor agreement to make the right decisions for or organization

  • Warehousing

  • WhatNot and Social Media Sales-- Future of Resale?

Consumer behavior & engagement


  • Academic insights: Returns, Remanufacturing and Resale w/Zac Rogers

  • Bin stores seeing growth at retail and why

  • Communicating the environmental impact of returns

  • Customer feedback loops from returned products

  • DIY - Helping Consumers Extend Product Life

  • Educating consumers on sustainable return practices

  • Gamification and rewards for circular behaviors

  • Generational differences in return expectations

  • Global Dynamics in Mobile Returns - Where has your phone been?

  • Products returns & consumer mindset

  • Psychology of returns: how policy affects behavior

  • Reducing returns through personalization

  • Refurbished products: Building trust for resale

  • Transparency in returns and refurbishment processes

Attendees in a session at NRF Rev

Retail returns management


  • Apparel: Intentional returns best practices

  • Challenges in liquidating returns out of the country

  • Cross-border returns: logistics and legal challenges

  • Customer Education Initiatives / how to reduce returns

  • Facilitating hyper-local returns

  • Finance exec deep dive: What to measure

  • Free returns: Sustainability and margin impact

  • Future of try-before-you-buy models

  • Handling seasonal spikes in returns

  • Improving the Customer Returns Experience

  • Influencing consumer behavior to reduce returns

  • Managing Bulky Item Returns

  • Managing returns in omnichannel retail

  • Reducing return rates through better product information

  • Return fraud: Detection and prevention strategies

  • Return policy optimization: Profits and customer satisfaction

  • Returnless refunds: When and why?

  • Returns and building brand loyalty

  • Returns forecasting

  • Returns fraud reduction strategy

  • Returns management: Retail-manufacturer collaboration

  • Returns reduction: Strategies for retailers

  • Returns: A CX differentiator

  • Secondary market: Addressing critical returns challenges

  • Social Media – Impact to Returns

Attendees in a session at NRF Rev

Reverse logistics in specific industries


  • Automotive parts: returns and remanufacturing

  • Electronics and e-waste recovery strategies

  • Food and beverage: Reverse logistics strategies

  • Furniture and bulky items: Returns strategies

  • Furniture and bulky items: Returns strategies

  • Pharmaceuticals and medical devices: Returns strategies

  • Reverse logistics strategies: Fashion and apparel

A person fills out a return form at a wooden table, preparing to send back purchased items. A cardboard box holds folded clothes with tags still attached and a pair of black loafers. Nearby are a smartphone, an open laptop, and the partially completed form. The scene reflects a typical home-based product return process in e-commerce.

Policy, regulation & compliance


  • Compliance challenges in product take-back programs

  • Customs and duties in international returns

  • Data privacy in returns and refurbishment

  • Government incentives for circular economy initiatives

  • Labeling and documentation requirements for returns

  • Legal risks in secondary market sales

  • Navigating global e-waste regulations

  • Product recalls: Logistics and comms strategies

  • Regulations - What to Know

  • Return cross-bordering and trade/tax implications.

  • Right-to-repair: Regulatory landscape

  • Sustainability reporting and reverse logistics

  • What Consumers & Regulators Should Know about Returns

  • Deep Dive into Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):

    • Batteries

    • Laws

    • Mattresses

    • Packaging

    • Paint

    • Tires

Technology & Innovation


  • AI in reverse logistics

  • Allure of auction sites using social media (Buying on What Not for example)

  • Augmented reality for reducing returns in e-commerce

  • Automation in reverse logistics

  • Automation vs. human touch in returns handling

  • B2B resale and recommerce practices w/Robert Iaria, Bstock

  • Blockchain for tracking returns and warranties

  • Closing the loop with post-consumer tracking

  • Digital passport: Deep dive

  • Digital twins: Reverse supply chain optimization

  • Integrating reverse logistics into ERP and WMS systems

  • IoT-enabled product tracking for end-of-life recovery

  • Predictive analytics for returns forecasting

  • Resale platforms: Selection and implementation

  • Reverse vending machines: Beverage containers

  • Reverse vending machines: Electronics

  • Robotics in returns processing

  • Smart labeling in reverse logistics

  • Supply Chain Traceability

  • Unlocking supply chain traceability with tech

  • Using AI/ML in reverse logistics

Roundtable schedule


Sunday, January 11

10:00am - 10:45am

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12:00pm - 12:45pm

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3:30pm - 4:15pm

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Monday, January 12

10:00am - 10:45am

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12:00pm - 12:45pm

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3:30pm - 4:15pm

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