Background: Reverse logistics (RL) practices have previously been viewed as a cost drain, but have received greater attention from practitioners because of increasing competition and dwindling margins. Purpose: The purpose of this generic qualitative study was to uncover the main internal and external drivers and barriers of RL within major South African grocery retailers. Method: Eleven face-to-face, semi-structured interviews and one telephonic interview were conducted with participants from four large grocery retailers. Findings: Optimising profitability and cost reduction goals are the identified internal drivers, whereas the main external driver was to reduce the organisations’ environmental impact. A lack of information systems – such as enterprise resource planning systems or warehouse management system software – and infrastructure were revealed as the main internal barriers for organisations’ RL practices, whereas supplier non-compliance and transportation inefficiencies were the main external barriers exposed. Managerial implications: In order to optimise the efficiency of the reverse flow, managers are recommended to devote more capital to RL infrastructure, develop policies to manage supplier behaviour, focus on RL as a revenue generating stream as well as implement information systems to manage the entire reverse flow. Conclusion: All participating grocery retailers follow similar RL processes. Growth in RL practices as well as infrastructure to perform those practices is a future priority for all the reviewed grocery retailers. RL is no longer only a key cost driver, but also provides organisations with many additional opportunities.

中文翻译：

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逆向物流实践的驱动因素和障碍：南非大型杂货零售商的研究

背景：逆向物流（RL）的做法以前被视为浪费成本，但是由于竞争加剧和利润率下降，因此受到了从业者的更多关注。目的：这项一般性定性研究的目的是揭示南非主要杂货零售商内RL的主要内部和外部驱动因素及障碍。方法：与来自四家大型杂货零售商的参与者进行了11次面对面，半结构化访谈和一次电话访谈。发现：优化盈利能力和降低成本的目标是确定的内部驱动因素，而主要的外部驱动因素是减少组织对环境的影响。信息系统（例如企业资源计划系统或仓库管理系统软件）和基础架构的缺乏被揭示为组织RL行为的主要内​​部障碍，而供应商的不合规和运输效率低下是暴露的主要外部障碍。对管理的影响：为了优化逆向流程的效率，建议管理人员将更多的资金投入到RL基础设施中，制定政策来管理供应商行为，将RL视为创收流，并实施信息系统来管理整个反向流动。结论：所有参与的杂货零售商都遵循类似的RL流程。RL练习以及执行这些练习的基础结构的增长是所有经过审查的杂货零售商的未来工作重点。