Returns quietly became a profit center, not a cost line

Returns were long treated as pure leakage — a cost to minimize. In 2026 the smartest retailers treat reverse logistics as a margin-recovery engine: instant resale routing, dynamic restocking, and fraud screening that recaptures value other sellers write off.

The difference is software that decides, item by item, the most profitable destination for a returned unit in real time.

Signal: the retailers winning on margin aren't selling more — they're losing less on the way back.