Later on, we obtained data for a 12 months period from all participants. We have now completed the analysis for both the 7 and 12 months time frames. We will only be focusing on the 12 months output. In order to be able to accurately analyze the different companies for the same category template, we had to carefully classify different SKUs from different departments into the main 39 categories. Data covers returns for a 12-month time frame.
Data includes only national brands.
The data manipulation task required a lot of communication between the University and all the participants, and we sometimes had to deal with time lag. We were only able to calculate average return rates by fine line category. In order to calculate average return rates by both fine line category and primary vendor so that one company could benchmark against another in negotiating return allowances, a more thorough analysis would have to be done at the line item level. More specifically, we would need to look at return rates for individual UPCs by vendors.