CASE STUDY School Supply Retailer Gives Purolator an A+ for Its Canadian Returns Solution It was hardly surprising when school districts across The one weak link in this well-executed supply chain, Canada jumped at the chance to purchase all of especially with regard to its Canadian operations, their supplies — everything from pencils and paper has been its inability to process returns. to desks, janitorial supplies, technology hardware, and playground equipment — at a reduced cost Like many retailers, this company tended to view from a single supplier. After all, two things all school returns as a necessary cost of doing business and districts seem to have in common are increasingly never gave much thought to an actual returns tight budgets and not enough hours in the day to strategy. Instead, customer credits would be issued, accomplish everything that needs to get done. or replacement items provided, while returns essentially accumulated in a warehouse. This Wisconsin-based retailer was seemingly ahead of its time when it first rolled out the concept of a But with product returns accounting for as much “one-stop” supply solution almost 60 years ago. as ten percent of revenue, it was clear that this At the time, the company relied on catalogs, word “out of sight, out of mind” strategy was not of mouth, and a hardworking sales force to build sustainable. Company managers had implemented relationships with schools, colleges and universities, a process for addressing returns within the United community centers, and other facilities. Customers States and now sought to develop a similar strategy would place orders for most everything they needed for their Canadian returns. to operate their facility, and shipments would arrive a few days later. The company was rewarded for its prescience with a loyal customer base that grew annually at an impressive rate. As the years passed, the retailer became much more than simply a supplier of equipment and supplies. Instead, the retailer became a full partner in helping school districts address the changing world of education by offering professional development, curriculum insight, and the tools required for twenty-first-century education. This was easier said than done, though, as it soon At the same time, the retailer made the successful became apparent that most logistics providers transition to online retailing by introducing a world- simply did not have the capacity to offer a solution class website that offers detailed product descriptions for returns coming from Canada. There were many for each of the thousands of products in its inventory. reasons for this, including lack of service, prohibitive Those products are manufactured by hundreds cost, and, of course, the mandatory customs of suppliers, with regular shipments made to the clearance process. company’s Ohio distribution center. The company’s fortunes changed when Purolator called. purolatorinternational.com | 1.888.511.4811 Everything from Pencils to Furniture — Coming from Canada Resolute ALASKA Pond Inlet Fort Good Hope YUKON TERRITORY Echo Bay Tungsten NUNAVUT Whitehorse Iqaluit YXY NORTHWEST TERRITORIES YZF Juneau Yellowknife Fort Smith Fort Nelson Uranium City Churchill Fort Vermilion High Level Mackenzie Ft. St. John NEWFOUNDLAND Peace River Smithers Dawson Creek Fort McMurray Burns Lake High Prairie McBride Clarenville Prince George Terrace Revelstoke Cold Lake YQX Prince Rupert Quesnel Grand Prairie Prince Albert Thompson St. John's YEA North Battleford Sept-Iles BRITISH Edson Flin Flon Cornerbrook Williams Lake Edmonton Queen Charlotte COLUMBIA Lloydminster Melfort Grand Falls Powell River Golden Hinton Vermilion 100 Mile House Saskatoon Labrador City Gander YYT Nanaimo Kindersley Mountain Standard Time Central Standard Time Eastern Standard Time Newfoundland Standard Time North Saanich Richmond Pacific Standard Time Kamloops Salmon Arm Drayton Valley Camrose Matane YVR YXE Yorkton Vancouver Vernon Red Deer PRINCE The Pas Rimouski Forestville Kelowna YLW Kenora EDWARD Victoria YYJ Langley/Port Kells ALBERTA SASKATCHEWAN Val D' Or QUEBÉÉCC New Richmond Penticton Medicine Hat Moose Jaw MANITOBA Jonquière YQY Kapuskasing YQM ISLAND Dryden Rivière-Du-Loup Sydney Grand Forks Calgary Swift Current YQR Dauphin Clermont Seattle Regina Mont Laurier Miramichi Brackley (Ch'Town) Lethbridge NEW C Timmins Saint-Jérôme Quebéc City Olympia SEA A Winnipeg DieppeCharlottetown N YWG ONTARIO Sydney A Estevan Fort Frances Sorel YQB BRUNSWICKFredericton St. John's GEG D ABrandon St-Joseph De Beauce Truro WASHINGTON U Laval Saint John YHZ Spokane Portland PDX N Thunder Bay Mirabel Anjou Levis YSJ I New Liskeard St. Laurent Kentville T Halifax Enfield Victoriaville NOVA Salem E Montréal D Pembroke Vaudreuil-Dorion Dartmouth S North Bay Gatineau Trois-Rivières T Q’shawa SCOTIA Helena MONTANA A T E S Sault Ste. Marie YUL MAINE YQI Sudbury Bridgewater Key Boise NORTH DAKOTA Ottawa Cornwall Sherbrooke Augusta Yarmouth Bismarck Peterborough Granby BOI YOW NEW OREGON Vaughan Pickering Kingston Montpelier MINNESOTA Scarborough HAMPSHIRE Traverse City Mississauga BellevilleVERMONT Minneapolis YYV Concord TVC MASSACHUSETTS Saint Paul Burlington Toronto Pierre YYZ NEWSyracuse YORK BOS IDAHO WISCONSIN Etobicoke Purolator Ofce MSP MICHIGANSaginaw YKF SYR ALB Boston Grand Hamilton YHM Albany Providence SOUTH DAKOTA Milwaukee Rapids MBS Windsor Hartford WYOMING YXU Buffalo BGM RHODE ISLAND Madison Detroit GRR YQR Binghamton BDL Reno DTW CONNECTICUT South Lansing EWR LGA Cedar Rapids Chicago Bend Cleveland PENNSYLVANIA RNO Toledo TOL JFK SLC ORD Harrisburg ABE Trenton IOWA CID SBN Fort Wayne Newark SMF Carson City Cheyenne CLE PIT Allentown Sacramento NEBRASKA DSM OAK NEVADA MLI MDW FWA NEW JERSEY 50-Mile Radius Salt Lake City Columbus PHL SFO OMA Des Moines Moline INDIANA Philadelphia Dayton Pittsburgh Baltimore BWI Omaha Indianapolis Dover San Francisco SJC Lincoln AnnapolisDELAWARE DEN ILLINOIS DAY CMH IAD Washington D.C. Springeld IND WEST Dulles UTAH Denver MCI OHIO MARYLAND Fresno Topeka Kansas City STL CVG Cincinnati VIRGINIA FAT RIC Las Vegas Frankfort Charleston Jefferson City SDF Richmond ORF COLORADO KANSAS St.Louis EVV Airport LAS Louisville VIRGINIA Norfolk XYZ Evansville CALIFORNIA KENTUCKY Greensboro MISSOURI TRI Nashville Knoxville GSO ONT ARIZONA Tri-Cities Raleigh-Durham LAX Santa Fe OKLAHOMA TYS RDU Los Angeles SNA TUL BNA CLT NORTH Destination/Origin ABQ Tulsa Charlotte XYZ Phoenix PHX OKC ARKANSAS TENNESSEE Greenville GSP CAROLINA Albuquerque Oklahoma City Columbia San Diego SAN LIT Atlanta CAE NEW MEXICO Little Rock Tucson ALABAMA SOUTH ATL CAROLINA State Capital TUS BHM DFW Birmingham Dallas MISSISSIPPI GEORGIA ELP SHV Jackson Montgomery Other Cities El Paso Shreveport TEXAS LOUISIANA Jacksonville MOB Tallahassee JAX Baton Rouge BTR Mobile Country Capital AUS IAH MSY Austin FLORIDA Houston New Orleans Orlando SAT MCO San Antonio HOU Route TPA CRP Tampa Bay LRD Corpus Christi Laredo RSW FLL MIA Miami Purolator International is a leading provider of which ensures seamless delivery and access to all logistics services for shipments moving between provinces and territories. This network also includes a the United States and Canada. And as the school large number of strategically located warehouses and supply retailer was pleasantly surprised to learn, distribution centers spread across Canada. No other returns management — from Canada — is a core carrier comes close to matching either the magnitude Purolator capability. of Purolator’s distribution network or its ability to address customers’ specific issues, including the need Purolator International is the U.S. subsidiary of for a Canadian returns-management solution. Purolator Inc., which is Canada’s leading integrated freight, package and solutions provider. Purolator Working directly with professionals in Purolator’s Inc. is an iconic brand across Canada, often listed Chicago office, retail managers explained the unique among Canada’s most respected companies, and it’s circumstances that had stymied previous attempts to red, white, and blue trucks are easily recognizable manage their Canadian returns. These concerns fell throughout the country. into three distinct categories: Through this relationship, Purolator International has Diverse range of products. The huge “soup-to-nuts” access to the largest distribution network in Canada, inventory that distinguishes the retailer as a single- purolatorinternational.com | 1.888.511.4811 source supplier has proven to be somewhat of an High number of undelivered shipments. obstacle when it comes to returns management. Another consideration was the fact that not every Product returns include everything from excess product sitting in the company’s Canadian returns pencils and staplers to desks, chairs, and even pile was, in fact, a return. As it turns out, shipments playground equipment. While it wouldn’t make sense to schools sometimes arrive after hours, or during to transport a low-value item back to the company’s vacation periods, when buildings are locked. Unless Ohio distribution center — incurring not only freight a delivery person is able to locate a member of costs but customs-related fees — there would be the cleaning staff, a late-working teacher or an a need for transporting products under warranty administrator, the package will be returned and or undamaged products that could be returned to marked as “undeliverable.” inventory. Clearly different options would need to be available for addressing different types of products.