In this episode, I tap into John Lee's decades of reverse retail logistics experience. He discusses the importance of a seamless customer returns process, reasons for cart abandonment due to unclear return methods, and strategies using data analytics and personalization to reduce returns. We also explore managing high return rates, innovative solutions for non-restockable items, challenges in store handling of returns, best practices in reverse logistics, and leveraging returns for environmental stewardship.

About John

President / COO / Board member / Advisor, John is a change and growth leader with extensive Canadian and international experience in retail/eCommerce, supply chain & logistics, express and transportation, and also providing executive strategy and systems consulting in these disciplines. A brand ambassador, participative leader and coach, encouraging curiosity, learning and honesty, coaching and driving teams to approach their transformation agendas with courage, passion and open, transparent communications to achieve superior performance.

He has launched and scaled-up new businesses, and led transformations and integration of acquisitions in others, working in Canada the United States, and globally in over 30 countries. In recent years John has been an industry leader in reverse logistics for retail and other industries. He has worked with several global retailers to design, implement and refine their customer returns, reverse logistics and merchandise liquidation operations in executive leadership roles as:

• President, Channel Control Merchants Canada – the country’s largest reverse logistics provider and operator of extreme value retail stores;
• US-based VP Business Development & Client Services for goTRG, the North American industry leader in data-driven reverse logistics, returns management, and online merchandise liquidation;
• VP & General Manager – Canada for Liquidity Services, a publicly traded (NASDAQ: LQDT) company and the world’s leading provider of online liquidation marketplaces for retail merchandise, government surplus and industrial capital assets.

In these roles, John worked with 7 of the top 10 US and global retailers, and many other major retailers and brands to build and operate processes that met the client’s objectives for both positive financial performance and auditable sustainability / environmental stewardship results. He says that he has had “the rare privilege to learn how to help organizations deliver great financial performance and achieve crucial and auditable environmental sustainability results at the same time”.

John is an alumni of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program and has served as Chair, Vice-Chair and Director on the Board of Directors of an international charity / research organization.

About Michael

Michael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail,
Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.