Multi-criteria approach to forming the return policy of e-commerce companies in Russia

Abstract

The aim of the study is to develop an effective approach to formulating and adjusting the return policy of large e-commerce companies in the Russian Federation taking into account the interests of e-commerce and marketplace participants. Research methodology includes modern methods of multi-criterial choice accounting for the preferences of decision makers. The paper provides an up-to-date assessment of actual return policy in e-commerce companies in the Russian Federation, and also proposes a multi-criterial approach to solving the problems of interfunctional and interorganizational interaction when choosing return policy parameters, taking into account legal restrictions and the interests of e-commerce marketplace participants. The practice of implementing the return policy is assessed in this study in view of insufficient high-quality urban warehouses, as well as limited ability to hire new couriers for deliveries on the “last mile” to the customers’ doors. The paper also discusses the prospects for the synthesis of a multicriteria approach and single-criteria optimization models of return flows route network.

Keywords:

e-commerce, return flows, return policy, multi-criteria selection