NRF is launching a new conference dedicated to reverse logistics and circular retail. The inaugural NRF Rev conference will take place Jan. 11-12, 2026, during NRF 2026: Retail’s Big Show in New York City.
NRF Rev will build upon the foundation that the Reverse Logistics Association built over 20 years and create new opportunities for executives in finance, operations, sustainability and reverse logistics to collaborate and co-create the future of circular retail.
Circular retail is an emerging set of practical and profitable practices that allow retailers, manufacturers and consumers to reduce waste, lower costs and keep products and materials circulating through the economy for as long as possible. It includes resale models in which manufacturers and retailers sell or facilitate the sale of used products. It also includes efforts to promote the design, manufacture and sale of more durable products to enhance their long-term resale value, and selling products in reusable or refillable packaging to reduce packaging waste.
The reverse logistics industry makes circularity possible. Reverse logistics includes recovering, refurbishing, reselling and recycling used products like computers, servers and furniture from large businesses, schools and universities that no longer need them.
Within the retail industry, it also includes the process for managing products that a retailer is unable to sell and products that consumers return to the retailer because the product does not meet their needs. Historically, unsold merchandise and returned products were treated as marketplace failures and retailers optimized their reverse logistics processes to reduce the cost of properly disposing of the unwanted items.
Once considered the “dark side” of the retail industry, reverse logistics has become an increasingly important part of retail’s future. Unwanted products have become big business.
Retailers are carefully examining every step in their reverse logistics processes to find creative ways to further lower reverse logistics costs, create new revenue sources, deliver additional consumer value, attract new customers and create environmental benefits by rethinking their reverse logistics processes.
The Reverse Logistics Association, which NRF acquired in 2023, defined the following key steps of a typical reverse logistics process:
Step 1: Initializing returns
The reverse logistics process begins when a business identifies products that have outlived their useful life, a consumer returns an item, or a retail manager declares unsold products as excess inventory. This initial step is supported by robust, AI-powered software to track the process and make recommendations along the way.
Step 2: Dispositioning
Unwanted products must be inspected to determine the next appropriate step in the reverse logistics process. Unused products returned to a physical store might be returned to the store shelf for sale the same day. Others are sent to disposition centers where they are inspected to determine if the product can be resold as new, resold as used or “open box,” repaired and/or repackaged for sale, sold or auctioned in bulk (liquidated), donated or recycled.
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