Admin, BJD 359 Dezembro

Brazilian Journal of Development 98347
Reverse logistics applied to E-commerce: A Systematic Literature Review on

Methods, Applications, and Trends for a Virtual Sustainable Market
Logística reversa aplicada ao comércio eletrônico: uma revisão sistemática da

literatura sobre métodos, aplicações e tendências para um mercado virtual
sustentável
DOI:10.34117/bjdv6n12-359
Recebimento dos originais: 15/11/2020

Aceitação para publicação: 15/12/2020
Ayla Lohanna da Silva

Master student in Production and Systems Engineering
Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Program (PPGEPS)
Polytechnic School (EP), Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR)
Address: Imaculada Conceição, 155 - Prado Velho, Curitiba - PR, 80215-901 - Brazil
E-mail: aylalohannadasilva@gmail.com
Roberto Zanetti Freire

Dr. in Mechanical Engineering
Industrial and Systems Engineering Graduate Program (PPGEPS)
Polytechnic School (EP), Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR)
Address: Imaculada Conceição, 155 - Prado Velho, Curitiba - PR, 80215-901 - Brazil
E-mail: roberto.freire@pucpr.br
ABSTRACT
The digital transformation of society, strengthened by the social isolation resulting from the COVID-
19 pandemic, boosted sales and returns of products in e-commerce. In this sense, reverse logistics in e-
commerce (RLec) has become essential to meet environmental legislation and consumer expectations,
which evaluate exchange policies on new purchases. In this sense, this article presents a systematic
review of the literature and content analysis, from 2009 to 2019, to identify methods of decision making
and applications in RLec. Thus, 261 publications were selected, of which 92 met the search criteria
related to reverse logistics and only 7 applied to e-commerce. In view of this, the main applications
involved network design (26%), remanufacturing (21%) and outsourcing (16%), aiming at reducing
costs and identifying barriers in reverse operations. Finally, artificial intelligence for decision making
was identified as a competitive differential in reducing the complexity and subjectivity of LRec
problems.
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, decision-making, e-commerce, reverse logistics.
RESUMO
A transformação digital da sociedade, fortalecida pelo isolamento social resultante da pandemia
COVID-19, impulsionou as vendas e o retorno dos produtos no comércio electrónico. Neste sentido, a
logística inversa no comércio electrónico (RLec) tornou-se essencial para satisfazer a legislação
ambiental e as expectativas dos consumidores, que avaliam as políticas de intercâmbio sobre novas
compras. Neste sentido, este artigo apresenta uma revisão sistemática da literatura e análise de
conteúdos, de 2009 a 2019, para identificar métodos de tomada de decisão e aplicações na RLec. Assim,
Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

foram seleccionadas 261 publicações, das quais 92 preenchiam os critérios de pesquisa relacionados
com a logística inversa e apenas 7 se aplicavam ao comércio electrónico. Tendo isto em conta, as
principais aplicações envolveram a concepção de redes (26%), refabricação (21%) e externalização
(16%), com o objectivo de reduzir custos e identificar barreiras em operações invertidas. Finalmente,
a inteligência artificial para a tomada de decisões foi identificada como um diferencial competitivo na
redução da complexidade e subjectividade dos problemas de LRec.
Keywords: Inteligência artificial, tomada de decisões, comércio electrónico, logística inversa.
1 INTRODUCTION
Scheduled obsolescence is one of the main causes of waste generation worldwide, according to
UN News (2018), 99% of the products purchased are discarded within a period of up to 6 months. In
this context, online shopping has a significant role, Statista (2020) showed a 228% growth in sales in
this segment in the last 5 years. Alarming is that such growth is accompanied by a high rate of returns,
which according to Dennis (2018) is equivalent to up to 30% of products purchased online.
Additionally, according to Kim (2020) and Waliul Hasanat et al. (2020) to increase this percentual,
some recent studies reported that, in many countries, online sales may increase, and this event can be
assumed as an accelerator of the structural change in both consumption and digital transformation.
To increase sustainability, Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) brought the concept of
eco-efficiency processes, from product design to the recall of the final product for reuse or final
destination, presenting to organizations the possibility of preserving the ecosystem throughout the
entire productive chain, without losing the ability to grow and generate profits (Teixeira et al. 2018).
Moreover, Franco (2019) stated that strategies for the circular design of products have been developed
to increase the service life, facilitating maintenance, as well as to enable the disassembly and
reassembly of the products. In this sense, reverse logistics plays an important role in the circular
economy process, as stated by Dutta et al. (2020) and emphasized by Kuşakcı et al. (2020), it represents
an alternative to minimize the effects of increased waste production. Moreover, Alnoor et al. (2019)
pointed out that though GSCM it is possible to save energy and lead to sustainability and ecological
manufacturing. According to Agyabeng-Mensah et al. (2020), green logistics management practices
have a significant positive influence on environmental performance. Since organizations choose to
either adopt a proactive approach to green practices based on organizational or regulatory stakeholder
pressures, Mele et al. (2019) and Baah et al. (2020) understand that conscious online consumers would
select companies that concern about cleaner and environment-friendly supply chain, whereas Moreira
et al. (2020) reports that consumers are becoming more aware and demanding. In this way, as already
proved in several applications (Cong and Shi, 2019; Zarbakhshnia et al., 2020; Karaman et al., 2020),

reverse logistics applied to e-commerce could also help to obtain a viable and suitable balance between
economic and environmental matters.
In Brazil, according to the Brazilian Solid Waste National Policy (Brazil, 2010), reverse
logistics represents a means to develop economic and social aspects of the society by enabling the
reinsertion of solid waste in the supply chain for correct final disposal. Furthermore, according to a
statement from the UN Secretary-General, released by UN News (2019), waste must be treated as a
business opportunity, that is, it must be seen as a resource, either through its energy reuse or
reconditioning of products and their parts. Such perception was already foreseen in the work of
Govindan and Soleimani (2017), where it was indicated that a closed-loop supply chain, to meet
customers' demands, should be responsible for both collection and appropriate treatment of end-of-life
products (EOL).
Given this, Bouzon et al. (2018) pointed out that reverse logistics has become a mandatory
element in the supply chain due to legal issues, as well as environmental and economic aspects, the
theme has attracted the interest of industries (Govindan et al., 2015b). On the other hand, it is worth
noting that the legal requirements, such as Law nº. 12.305 (Brazil, 2010), PHMSA-2011-0143
(PHMSA - Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, 2016), and Directive 2002/96/CE
(European Commission, 2019), predicted that some types of waste must be part in reverse logistics
programs, such as tires, batteries, medicines, however, they do not mention how to do so.
Based on the previously mentioned facts, this research presents a systematic literature review,
associated with content analysis, to reveal which decision-making methods are being applied to reverse
logistics in recent academic researches, especially concerning the e-commerce sector. The research
method presented in this work, according to Ahn and Kang (2018), allows the identification and
evaluation of relevant works in the area and can be auditable and replicable. While the content analysis,
according to (Bardin, 1977), is composed of stages involving the organization, selection, and
exploration of materials, to establish their interpretation carefully and systematically. In this way, the
combination of the systematic review with the content analysis presented in this article highlight the
decision-making methods already used in reverse logistics and enable the production of researches that
fills possible gaps in knowledge in this field of study.
The remainder of this article is divided as follows. The next sections trail the development
stages of this research. Section 2 describes the methodology adopted in this study, section 3 presents
the preliminary research procedures and the systematic literature review, where the latter was
developed on the topic of reverse logistics in the supply chain. In sequence, section 4 addresses the

content analysis of articles considered relevant to the topic, intending to identify methods and
applications associated with reverse logistics problems when e-commerce was assumed. Finally,
section 5 discusses the main characteristics and implications in addressing the problem associated with
decision-making in reverse logistics and e-commerce, and section 6 presents the conclusions and
suggestions for future works associated with this research.
2 METHODOLOGY
The methodology employed in this study includes two macro steps, the first one consists of a
systematic literature review, and the second one is directed to the content analysis. Each one of them
allows us to sort the results of this research, to restrict them to the relevant content to the proposed
questions, these mentioned in the sequence of this study.
Figure 1 schematically represents the beginning of the process with input information, those
obtained from preliminary research, which was developed to validate the existence of similar studies
to the one proposed, as well as to determine the research questions, the keywords, and to define the
type of relationship among them.
Subsequently, a systematic review was performed considering the selection of articles on a
scientific basis, both inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied, as well as the classification of the
selected articles according to the decision-making method. After that, the content analysis was
performed based on the identification of publications adhering to the research questions, and the results
were compiled by relevance, contributions, and limitations.
Figure 1 - Research Methodology
3 SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
According to Sampaio and Mancini (2007), a systematic review is a type of study that aims to
select evidence from different databases to answer one or more research questions. Such selection is
performed through a search strategy, which adopts inclusion and exclusion criteria, prioritizing both
relevance analysis and quality of the articles. Additionally, Levy and Ellis (2006) highlighted that a
systematic review is more than analyzing and compiling content based on criteria to determine what is
already known in a topic but to demonstrate the potential research contributions, that is, to identify
knowledge gaps to be explored.
In this sense, to establish the structure of this research, the literature review methodologies
employed by Mattioda et al. (2015) and Donato and Donato (2019) were adapted as described in the
following subsections.
3.1 PRELIMINARY RESEARCH STAGE

The preliminary research stage is composed of three steps: i) the determination of the research
questions; ii) the definition of the keywords; and iii) the establishment of the relationship among all
the keywords. These steps are described in the sequence.
3.1.1 Research questions

To identify the scientific publications most adherent to the proposed theme, the following
research questions were formulated:
• What are the decision-making methods applied to reverse logistics?
• What are the applications of reverse logistics decision-making in e-commerce?
3.1.2 Keywords definition

The research questions from the previous topic are used to define the keywords used in the
research process. In this sense, to identify the main decision-making methods in reverse logistics, the
following terms were adopted: reverse logistic*, reverse supply chain, product recovery, closed-loop
supply chain, e-commerce, electronic commerce and decision-making. Also, 3 related terms for reverse
logistic* were considered, based on research by (Pellicer e Valero, 2018). The asterisk means that
additional letters can compose the keyword.
3.1.3 Keywords relationship

From the keywords, researches were performed considering a 1 × 1 relation of terms to
understand the relationship between them, with 14 different relations being generated. However, the
results were not consistent within the scope of the present study, more specifically, the association of

the terms of electronic commerce and decision-making resulted in 589 articles, of which the vast
majority do not meet the research questions proposed in this study. Additionally, it was found that the
terms related to electronic commerce and also associated with reverse logistics did not present
significant occurrences (8 articles), which indicates a knowledge gap for the topic.
In this sense, the 1 × 1 × 1 relation was adopted, so that it was possible to restrict the research
considering just 8 relations. More details about the adopted crossing strategy can be found in figure 2.
Figure 2 - Keyword crossing strategy
3.2 SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC DATABASES

To optimize the search process, a search platform was adopted. The selected platform was the
Portal provided by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), of
Brazil’s Ministry of Education, which provides international scientific content through a virtual library
linked to more than 130 scientific bases, such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Springer, Taylor & Francis,
among others (CAPES/MEC, 2019). The searches were performed considering articles including at
least three keywords, for which the connectors “AND” and “OR” were used to delimit the relationship
among them. Based on the preliminary search, it was assumed that the terms related to reverse logistics
should be associated with the others by the AND connector, while the terms decision-making and
electronic commerce should be associated with each other through the OR connector. Therefore, to
meet the search criteria, the following filters were applied:
I. Material type: article.
II. Publication language: English.
III. Keywords search in the subject of the article.
IV. Just peer-reviewed articles were considered.
The criteria were determined by: i) the standardization of structure and objectivity in the
presentation of the content offered by the authors; ii) the predominance of publications in research
media in English; iii) the possibility of limiting the results to relevant content associated with the
research questions; and iv) the validation in terms of both quality and consistency of published content.
After applying these filters, the search resulted in 290 articles, from which it was possible to
observe that the highest concentration of publications, 261 articles, occurred in the last 10 years (2009
to 2019), as described in Table 1. Taking engineering practice into account, where the literature review
is usually performed considering, at least, 10 years as performed by de Oliveira et al. (2018) and
Govindan and Bouzon (2018), this interval was adopted for the analysis of the next phases presented
in this research.
Table 1 - Time distribution of publications

Last Last
Total Last 5 Last 2 Last
Reverse Logistics E-commerce 20 10
Results years years year
years years
reverse logistic* e-commerce 85 85 79 59 27 24
Decision-making
reverse logistic* electronic commerce 90 90 86 64 31 26
reverse supply chain e-commerce 4 4 3 3 3 3
reverse supply chain electronic commerce 4 4 3 3 3 3
product recovery e-commerce 32 32 24 17 7 6
product recovery electronic commerce 32 32 24 17 7 6
closed-loop supply chain e-commerce 21 21 20 17 12 9
closed-loop supply chain electronic commerce 22 22 22 17 12 9
% per period 100% 90% 68% 35% 30%
3.3 ARTICLES SELECTION PROCESS: INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA

The filters mentioned in the previous subsection are considered part of the inclusion criteria
(articles published between 2009 and 2019, articles with the keywords mentioned in the subject, title
and summary of articles aimed at making reverse logistics decisions, preferably in e-commerce), or the
exclusion criteria (articles not written in English, articles not peer-reviewed, articles that do not apply
decision-making methods or are just literature reviews).
Once the inclusion and exclusion criteria were determined, the titles and abstracts were read to
verify the relevance to the scope of this research and to select them, so that 92 non-coincident articles
were found, that is, the same article from different databases, as described in Table 2.
For the selected contributions, an analysis was carried out to identify the number of publications
per year, institutions of origin, and subareas of application. This procedure was conducted to
understand how the topics are being addressed by the academic community, and to determine what are
the research gaps in this field.

Table 2 - Articles selected by crossing terms

Number of Articles Selected % of
Reverse Logistics E-commerce
(from 2009 to 2019) Articles Relevance
reverse logistic* e-commerce 79 61 66%
Decision-making
reverse logistic* electronic commerce 86 4 4%
reverse supply chain e-commerce 3 3 3%
reverse supply chain electronic commerce 3 0 0%
product recovery e-commerce 24 11 46%
product recovery electronic commerce 24 0 0%
closed-loop supply chain e-commerce 20 13 14%
closed-loop supply chain electronic commerce 22 0 0%
Total: 92
The percentage of relevance regarding the publications was calculated dividing the number of
selected articles considering each relation of terms by the total number of selected articles. In this way,
it is possible to determine which relation of terms are the most impacting for this study.
Considering that the period of publications was determined based on the preliminary research,
figure 3 shows the number of publications per year.
Figure 3 - Number of articles published per year

17 15 18
11
Publications
Number of
6 5 7 7
2 3 1
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Year of Publication
Analyzing the trend associated with the number of publications, it can be noticed that there is
an increase in publications between 2013 and 2016. It is important to emphasize that several worldwide
actions in favor of the environment and sustainable development, such as the United Nations
Environmental Assembly Nations (UNEA), which was held in 2014 and also in 2016, occurred in the
previously mentioned period. As well as, in 2015, where new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
were determined, also known as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and, in the same year,
the Paris Agreement on climate was stated (United Nations, 2019a).
Besides, it is possible to identify the rise of interest in this theme in recent years, as a result of
studies, such as the one presented in Circle Economy (2019), which is associated with climate change.

The authors showed that 62% of atmospheric emissions can be related to the production of goods to
meet human needs. Furthermore, Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2019) highlighted the potential of the
circular economy, which aims to prolong the useful life of products by reinserting them in the
productive and energy chain, preserving natural resources, generating long-term benefits for the
environment, creating business opportunities, and social benefits.
The next stage of this research aimed to highlight countries considering the origin of the
researches on this topic, showing where research interests on reverse logistics are being applied for a
sustainable environment. In this way, we could identify both countries and institutions where the main
authors are based. For that, the concentration of publications by country was presented in Figure 4.
Figure 4 - Concentration of publication by countries
Considering the countries highlighted in figure 4, the institutions that originated the publications
are located in 33 countries, most of them developed or considered emerging economies, located largely
on Asia, Europe, and North America. According to the analysis performed by the authors, 32 countries
are members of the United Nations (UN) (United Nations, 2019b) and are involved in pacts for
sustainable development and the fight against climate change. In particular, European Union countries
through the European Commission that in 2015 instituted a circular economy package (European
Commission, 2015). This package aimed to establish measures from the review of production processes,
so they should be more efficient and provide sustainable waste management, mainly to convert waste
into resources.
3.4 CLASSIFICATION OF ARTICLES CONCERNING APPROACHES AND METHODS

For the selected articles, following the steps mentioned in the previous subsections considering
the systematic literature review, two classifications were considered. The first one assumed the

approaches involving reverse logistics, where the articles were classified according to their application.
In the sequence, the second classification considered the decision-making methods, which were
identified and discussed in the sequence of this research. Both classifications aimed at the identification
of possible reverse logistics knowledge gaps.
Thus, it was found that the articles addressed the following approaches:
I. Reverse logistics network design: 26% of the studies dealt with the structuring of a
goods collection and return network, more specifically in processes involving routing and cost
optimization minimizing environmental impacts and maximizing profits.
II. Remanufacturing: 21% of the publications range from product design aimed at
optimizing disassembly considering financial aspects concerning installations, pricing of parts and
pieces, and the planning of the remanufacturing operation.
III. Third-Party Reverse Logistics (3PRL): 16% of articles studied 3PRL selection and
evaluation processes, that is, Third-Party Reverse Logistics Service Providers to optimize costs and to
improve the quality of reverse operations.
IV. Reverse logistics performance: 8% of the works presented ways to measure the
performance of the Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC). In these studies, they enabled the evaluation
of the stages of the reverse logistics network, resources, and both financial and non-financial strategies
adopted in the product recovery process.
V. Criteria for decision-making by the organization: 5% of the articles listed criteria that
VI. underpin decision-making from the strategic to the operational sphere of the
organizations.
VII. Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC): 4% of the articles presented migration models,
those applied from common supply chain to closed-cycle supply chain, as well as demand forecast
models in this type of structure.
VIII. Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM): 4% of studies dealt with green supply chain
management, they highlighted how environmental aspects influence the decision-making in the supply
chain considering costs, reduction of atmospheric emissions, improvement of the organization's
reputation, among other situations;
IX. Treatment/recovery alternatives: 4% of the works proposed strategies for recovery,
reframing, and destination of products.

X. Other topics: 11% of the articles addressed the implementation and operational barriers,
pricing strategies, inventory management, risks, consumer return criteria, and atmospheric emissions
policies in reverse logistics operations.
Thereafter, the articles were categorized according to the decision-making method to identify
how the previously mentioned themes were explored. Therefore, the methods most applied can be seen
in Figure 5.
Figure 5 - Number of publications of the main methods in the last 10 years

9
6 6 5 5 5
Number of Publications
AHP F-AHP DEMATEL Fuzzy ANP GA

Analytic Fuzzy Analytic Decision Making Fuzzy Analytic Network Genetic
Hierarchy Hierarchy Trial and Process Algorithms
Process Process Evaluation
Laboratory
Method
It is worth mentioning that, in figure 5, the methods were grouped by the number of occurrences,
so that only those with more than 5 applications were included in the graphical analysis. The most
applied method, with 9 occurrences, is the AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process). The AHP was originally
proposed by Saaty (1988), and according to Tavana et al. (2016), the AHP can be used in the selection
and prioritization of decision-making criteria, whether qualitative or quantitative, o it can calculate its
weights through comparisons. In this way, the researches assuming AHP considered: the selection of
3PRL, the return of products by consumers, options for enabling remanufacturing, which influence the
choice of facilities, among others. In the sequence, with 6 occurrences, F-AHP (Fuzzy Analytic
Hierarchy Process) was the second most used technique. The F-AHP represents an association of AHP
with diffuse (or fuzzy) logic, which was proposed in (Van Laarhoven e Pedryczt, 1983). The F-AHP
method was also assumed for the selection of the 3PRL associated with cost optimization, and for the
identification of barriers using expert opinions.
Considering the same number of occurrences of the F-AHP, the DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial
and Evaluation Laboratory) method also presented consistent use in recent researches involving reverse
logistics. This method is generally assumed to solve more complex problems, as presented in Xia et al.
(2015), where the authors showed that the strategy, which is based on the theory of diagrams, allows
building a cause and effect relationship of the initial problem in an automotive remanufacturing

application. Moreover, Shaik and Abdul-Kader (2014) emphasize that it is possible to identify the
relationships and interdependencies of criteria and even convert them into a model easier to understand.
Then, in this systematic review, the DEMATEL method was identified in cases to determine
performance, as well as to recognize dependencies on criteria for decision-making in the reverse
logistics network.
Next, for the fuzzy method, 5 applications were reported. This method, according to Lin (2013), makes
it possible to solve problems arising from imprecise, often qualitative criteria, such as expert opinions
transcribed into linguistic expressions. Likewise, Haji Vahabzadeh et al. (2015) emphasized that the
diffuse logic is capable of operating with imprecision and uncertainty in a practical way, with a high
level of performance, optimizing both the analysis time and the construction of the model adopted for
decision-making. Therefore, the fuzzy method was mainly used to determine treatment and recovery
alternatives for returned products, as well as to establish criteria for the organization's decision-making
through reports from managers. It is important to emphasize that when we considered fuzzy associated
with AHP, 11 works adopted this strategy. The fuzzy strategy appears as the most used technique when
the problem of reverse logistic associated with e-commerce is considered.
In the sequence, again with 5 applications, the ANP (Analytic Network Process) strategy arises.
According to Hsueh and Lin (2015), as the AHP can solve problems involving qualitative and
quantitative criteria, but dispensing specifications of hierarchical levels. The previously mentioned
work considered this technique in a case study involving the sorting process in reverse logistics of the
photovoltaic industry. Additionally, Verdecho et al. (2012) reported that the ANP can be modeled on
a matrix structure and uses a feedback system in its iterations. In this sense, the applications included
the evaluation of performance criteria in a reverse logistics network, as well as decision criteria of the
organization regarding remanufacturing processes.
Finally, the last method that was also assumed in 5 publications is GA (Genetic Algorithms).
According to Yang (2014), the GA is a metaheuristic that adopts an approximate approach when
compared to other search methods, this approach is a bioinspired algorithm based on natural evolution
with a selection mechanism. Thus, Guo et al. (2017) pointed out that GA seeks to obtain optimal value
for the objective function by simulating conditions based on adapting criteria. In this way, its
applications on reverse logistics were focused on the allocation of centers and the pricing of
components for remanufactured products.
In the sequence, again with 5 applications, the ANP (Analytic Network Process) strategy arises.
According to Hsueh and Lin (2015), as the AHP can solve problems involving qualitative and

quantitative criteria, but dispensing specifications of hierarchical levels. The previously mentioned
work considered this technique in a case study involving the sorting process in reverse logistics of the
photovoltaic industry. Additionally, Verdecho et al. (2012) reported that the ANP can be modeled on
a matrix structure and uses a feedback system in its iterations. In this sense, the applications included
the evaluation of performance criteria in a reverse logistics network, as well as decision criteria of the
organization regarding remanufacturing processes.
Finally, the last method that was also assumed in 5 publications is GA (Genetic Algorithms).
According to Yang (2014), the GA is a metaheuristic that adopts an approximate approach when
compared to other search methods, this approach is a bioinspired algorithm based on natural evolution
with a selection mechanism. Thus, Guo et al. (2017) pointed out that GA seeks to obtain optimal value
for the objective function by simulating conditions based on adapting criteria. In this way, its
applications on reverse logistics were focused on the allocation of centers and the pricing of
components for remanufactured products.
Figure 6 - Concentration of methods applied by articles
The most significant association of methods, totaling 25% of publications, is that including
fuzzy logic with other initializer methods. This type of association between two distinct techniques was
usually assumed to reduce uncertainties of the models, optimizing the results. Another relevant
information is that the 92 selected publications came from 53 different journals, of which 67% have
less than 3 publications in this research field, as shown in Figure 7:

Figure 7 - Concentration of publications by Journals
The main journals identified in the systematic review belong to Elsevier and Springer Verlag
bases, moreover, the publications are allocated in the best quartile of their research themes, according
to the Scimago Journal & Country Rank released in 2018 (Scimago, 2018).
To understand if exists a recurrent use method in recent researches, the techniques adopted to
solve reverse logistics problems in the period of this review (2009-2019) were identified. It was
observed that the year with the highest diversity of methods assumed to solve reverse logistics problems
was 2019, revealing a tendency in the search for distinct approaches to solving reverse logistics
problems when compared to previous years. Looking deeper in 2019, all methods used in the 18
publications that met the selection criteria of this review were listed in Table 3. Thus, 27 different
methods for solving problems were identified, which demonstrates that there is no well-established
technique used as a reference in the theme of this study in recent researches.
Table 3 - Resolution methods applied

Method Number of Applications
GA - Genetic Algorithms 2
PR-MCDT - Product Recovery Multi-Criteria Decision Tool 1
F-AHP - Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process 1
AMTWTPT - Analytic Model Two-Way Two-Part Tariff 1
MOOM - Multi-Objective Optimization Model 1
NNC - Nearest-Neighbor Clustering 1
ANP - Analytic Network Process 1
AHP - Analytic Hierarchy Process 1
EW - Entropy Weight Method 1
MABAC - Multi-Attributive Boundary Approach Area Comparison 1
CLICK - Collective Keystones Methodology 1
FORKM - Fourth Order Runge Kutta Method 1
COPRAS - Complex Proportional Assessment 1
BWM - Best and Worst Method 1
IFVNPM - Intuitionistic Fuzzy Vertical Nash Pricing Model 1
CCS-SPM - CCS-Bertrand Pricing Model 1

CCS-BPM - CCS-Stackelberg Pricing Model 1

SCS-SPM - SCS-Bertrand Pricing Model 1
SCS-BPM - SCS-Stackelberg Pricing Model 1
DEA-TOPSIS - Data envelopment Analysis with Technique for Order Preference by
1
Similarity to Ideal Solution
TES - Triple Exponential Smoothing 1
NRS - Neighborhood Rough Set 1
TOPSIS - Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution 1
VIKOR - Multicriteria Optimization and Compromise Solution 1
DEMATEL - Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory 1
RLCF - Reverse Logistics Conceptual Framework 1
DOE - Design of Experiments 1
4 CONTENT ANALYSIS
The content analysis can be seen as an instrument or series of adaptable techniques since
different procedures can be used in the analysis of works related to a research theme (Bardin, 1977).
Therefore, it can be defined that the content analysis includes the stages of pre-processing of
information, exploration of the material, treatment, and interpretation of the results. Thus, when treating
and interpreting the material, it is possible to establish a coding linking raw data and the theory of that
content to identify gaps in knowledge and approaches that were not yet carried out, allowing the
development of new researches.
4.1 THE IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCHES APPLIED TO E-COMMERCE

To answer the second research question, the content analysis was focused on the identification
of the applications of reverse logistics decision-making in the e-commerce area. In this sense, only 7
of the 92 articles selected in the systematic review match with the scope of e-commerce. In Table 4,
the main characteristics of the 7 selected publications are described.
As can be verified, just a few areas/products were studied involving reverse logistics and
electronic commerce. In all of the seven studies, three general applications were considered, showing
few studies addressing the problem independently of the area or product. Additionally, two studies
considered the clothing sector, the other one assumed the problem associated with the management of
stocks in ports, and the last one dealt with electro-electronic products. In the sequence, each one of the
previously mentioned studies is reviewed and discussed.
The authors XiaoYan et al. (2012) proposed a reverse logistics network study by applying the
Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) method, a variation of Linear Programming (LP) that

started with the work of George Dantzig in 1947 (Bixby, 2012). XiaoYan et al. (2012) aimed to
determine a generic mathematical model that would enable the allocation of facilities related to the
operation of electronic commerce, considering returns to manufacturers, online retailers, and 3PRL.
The application dealt with the minimization of logistics costs problem of the chain. To this end, they
considered the operating costs of the chain agents, as well as the transport costs of direct and reverse
delivery for manufacturers and online sellers. In this way, the authors were able to demonstrate, through
an illustrative case study, that 80% of the returns are directed from the 3PRL to online retailers, a
scenario that represented an optimization of transportation costs and time when allowing the products
to be made available for new sales. Furthermore, based on the argument that the return policy influences
market demand and, consequently, the increase in reverse flows, they proposed another mathematical
model based on delivery and return prices. The proposed model was used to determine the relationship
between demand and product returns. So, they assumed that the demand is directly proportional to the
return price and inversely proportional to the selling price.
In the work presented by Hjort and Lantz (2016), the objective was to understand the influence
of return policies on consumer behavior in new purchases. A regression model was presented, which
was initially conceptualized by Francis Galt (Stanton, 2001), and applied to e-commerce in the Swedish
clothing sector, where purchasing habits, return habits, costs of operations (handling and shipping),
and contribution values per order at the customer level were considered to build the model. The authors
showed that it is advantageous to customize the return policy by the type of customer. They stressed
that long-term, free, free return policies do not ensure profitability in orders, but only represent a
competitive advantage in attracting new customers.
Meanwhile, Ghadge et al. (2016) developed a hybrid approach to enable the operation of a
multi-site reverse logistics network, in the context of a UK online retail, to minimize both operational
and transportation costs. Besides, another objective of the research was the reduction of atmospheric
emissions. Therefore, the Centre of Gravity (COG) and Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP)
methods were used. The first aims to minimize transport costs, by discovering possible locations for
the distribution of facilities in weighted centers. However, to meet the CLSC adequately, the authors
proposed the inclusion of a new variable in the model to contemplate the reverse flows. Given this,
MILP was initialized with the locations found by the modified COG to determine the ideal location,
with minimum transportation and operational costs, for the installation of distribution centers and the
collection of returns. Thus, the researchers indicated that the solution with the lowest costs consists of

a single location, resulting in large volumes of products traded. Finally, they propose the use of two
centers to ensure that CLSC services are not interrupted due to a lack of physical space.
In the fourth article, Guo et al. (2017) proposed a multiperiod model for building a reverse
logistics network for Shanghai clothing e-commerce companies. They adopted 8 factors to reach
different stakeholders and to reduce the total costs of the reverse operation. To solve the problem, they
used two metaheuristic optimization techniques, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), developed
by Eberhart and Kennedy (1995), and Genetic Algorithms (GA), which was originally proposed by
John Holland in the 1960s (Yang, 2014). Both methods were assumed to verify the model's viability
and to optimize the results. As mentioned by the researchers, both techniques presented high
convergence speed and interesting solution quality obtained for this specific problem, even considering
that they are not exact techniques. Thus, they demonstrated that by adopting multiple periods, the
number of locations in the reverse network could be reduced and, consequently, the costs of operation,
maintenance, and transportation, since the utilization rate of each location increased.
Table 4 - Main characteristics of publications associated with e-commerce

Area / Country of
Article Authors Title Theme Method
Product application
(XiaoYan et Reverse logistics network design Reverse Logistics Not Not MILP - Mixed Integrate
1
al., 2012) model based on e-commerce Network Design specified specified Linear Programming
(Hjort and The impact of returns policies on
Return Criteria
2 Lantz, profitability: A fashion e- Clothing Sweden RM - Regression Model
(Consumer)
2016) commerce case
Facility location for a closed-loop COG - Centre of Gravity/
(Ghadge et Reverse Logistics Not United
3 distribution network: a hybrid MILP - Mixed Integrate
al., 2016) Network Design specified Kingdom
approach Linear Programming
Dynamic joint construction and
optimal operation strategy of PSO - Particle Swarm
(Guo et al., Reverse Logistics
4 multi-period reverse logistics Clothing China Optimization/
2017) Network Design
network: a case study of Shanghai GA - Genetic Algorithms
apparel e-commerce enterprises
Inventory control method of
reverse logistics for shipping Management of MPSO - Multi-objective
(Yang et al., Not
5 electronic commerce based on Reverse Logistics Port Particle Swarm
2018) specified
improved multi-objective particle Stock Optimization Algorithm
swarm optimization algorithm
Prioritizing barriers in reverse
(Lamba et logistics of e-commerce supply Barriers of Reverse Not F-AHP - Fuzzy Analytic
6 India
al., 2019) chain using fuzzy-analytic Logistics specified Hierarchy Process
hierarchy process
Pricing strategies in dual-channel
(Wu et al., Reverse Logistics Electro- Not
7 reverse supply chains considering Stackelberg Game
2019) Pricing Strategy electronic specified
fairness concern

In the next year, Yang et al. (2018) optimized e-commerce inventory costs by analyzing both
costs and inventory of products subject to new sales and those with unviable recovery. So, they applied
the Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO) algorithm, proposed by Ray and Liew
(2002), which is a variation of the original PSO method to solve multiobjective problems (MOP). In
the study proposed by Yang et al. (2018), multiple inventory objectives were considered, including
managed recovery. The authors assumed that a reverse e-commerce logistics network does not have a
single optimal solution, but rather a set of ideal solutions that can be adopted by choosing decision-
makers, justifying the use of a multiobjective approach. Thus, the study demonstrated the reduction of
inventory costs, the increase of service level, and the optimization of the company’s resources that
performed the reverse management of electronic commerce.
In the sixth article, Lamba et al. (2019) proposed a model with information inputs defined in 4
stages, including a literature review, the study with the participation of 7 specialists, the application of
questionnaires to online commerce customers and deliverers, and finally, the validation stage including
specialists opinions to determine the weights for classifying barriers in the implementation of reverse
logistics for Indian e-commerce. Then, they assumed the F AHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process)
method, a variation of the AHP method suggested by Van Laarhoven and Pedryczt (1983). Therefore,
by associating AHP with Fuzzy, the authors reduced the imprecision of expert opinion and were able
to determine the three main barriers of reverse logistics in e-commerce: the lack of investment in
reverse flows, the demands for delivery and uncertain returns, and the lack of knowledge of
recommended actions.
Finally, in the seventh article, Wu et al. (2019) applied the adapted Stackelberg Game method,
which was developed in 1943 by Heinrich von Stackelberg (Ferrara et al., 2017), in a Dual-channel
Reverse Supply Chain (DRSC) to determine a balanced price strategy between direct recycling centers
and third parties. This strategy was assumed because the destination process of returning goods from
online and offline markets provided different profits to these agents of the reverse chain. Thus, three
Stackelberg Game scenarios were developed, those based on the sense of fairness on the part of
recyclers, regarding the ideal price and revenue in the supply chain. So, when applying numerical
examples, they demonstrated that it is important to establish a balance between the direct and the third
party operations to ensure the profitability of the entire supply chain.
After understanding the applications of the 7 selected publications, a complementary survey
was carried out in which the references used in each of these publications were identified, totaling 236

references. It is worth noting that only 4 references were cited in more than one publication, indicating
that there is no well-defined theoretical framework for the topic.
Then, for the 232 different references, it was possible to identify 206 authors, the most cited
were presented in the graph illustrated in figure 8.
Figure 8 - Number of times the authors were cited
For these authors, the presence of their works in the publications of this content analysis was
validated, so that the publications with the highest recurrence of the same authors were in the
publications of Ghadge et al. (2016) and Lamba et al. (2019), as shown in Table 5.
Table 5 - Recurrence of authors per publication

Article (reference number presented in Table 6)
Authors
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Kannan Govindan 1 3 1
Stefan Nickel 4 1
Dale S. Rogers 1 2 2
Luk N. Van Wassenhove 3 2
Ronald S. Tibben-Lembke 1 1 2
Moritz Fleischmann 1 1 2
Roberta Costa 3
Tamara Menichini 3
Francisco Saldanha-da-Gama 2 1
Klas Hjort 3
Reza Zanjirani Farahani 3
Björn Lantz 2
Rommert Dekker 1 1 1
Ying-Ming Wang 3
Angappa Gunasekaran 1 2

V. Daniel R. Guide Jr 2 1
Armando Calabrese 3
Devika Kannan 1 2
Nachiappan Subramanian 1 2
Yaozhong Wu 3
Total occurrences 2 4 20 8 0 28 7
In that order, for the 236 references used in the 7 selected publications, 324 citations were
identified. The vast majority of these references were cited only once, as shown in figure 9.
Figure 9 - Number of times a reference is cited
4.2 ANALYSIS BY RELEVANCE, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND LIMITATIONS

Once the decision-making methods and applications were identified, it is important to evaluate
the degree of relevance of the presented articles, as well as their main contributions and limitations.
For this purpose, the Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) was compiled chronologically and
presented in Table 6, which considers the average number of citations received in the last 3 years, and
the H index, which adopts the relation between the total number of articles published in a period and
the total citations of these articles. Finally, an analysis of the positive and negative points of each article
was presented.
Table 6 - Relevance, contributions, and limitations of publications

SJR Best Publisher
Article Journal SJR H index Publishing company
Quartile Country
International Journal of Organizational Emerald Group
1 0.353 Q2 19 UK
Analysis Publishing Ltd.
2 Journal of Business Research 1.684 Q1 158 NLD Elsevier BV
International Journal of Retail & Emerald Group
3 0.767 Q1 67 UK
Distribution Management Publishing Ltd.
Kluwer Academic
4 Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing 1.389 Q1 67 NLD
Publishers
Coastal Education &
5 Journal of Coastal Research 0.424 Q2 77 USA Research Foundation,
Inc.

Kluwer Academic
6 Electronic Commerce Research 0.522 Q1 34 NLD
Publishers
Multidisciplinary
International Journal of Environmental
7 0.818 Q2 78 SWI Digital Publishing
Research and Public Health
Institute (MDPI)
It can be observed that only two publications have an SJR index greater than 1, those are
considered by the academic community as a reference in the areas of application. On the other hand,
the H index reveals an increase of interest in the topic, once from 2016 to 2020 the number of citations
has increased. In terms of contributions and limitations, the first article presented by XiaoYan et al.
(2012) addressed a generic model for reverse logistics network considering uncertainties in demands
and returns from the electronic market, as well as contemplated the operation with 3PRL to enable cost
reduction and improvement in the level of service. However, the model assumed premises that imply
additional effort for its application in a real scenario, since they considered a single product and costs
only between two locations. Additionally, the study left a gap in the costs of penalties for not meeting
market demand and returns, as well as for not paying attention to the prices of new negotiations of
returned products.
The second article, authored by Hjort and Lantz (2016), established a relationship between
profitability and return policies when analyzing contributions per order at the customer level. However,
the proposed model was restricted to the context addressed, and to prove the generality of the model,
it should be interesting to consider other applications since the results achieved were directly related to
the historical data of purchases and returns from e-commerce customers.
Meanwhile, Ghadge et al. (2016) adapted known techniques (COG/MILP) to contemplate the
reverse flow and optimized the result minimizing transportation costs, handle operations, and
consequently atmospheric emissions in the allocation of facilities. However, the model did not consider
remanufacturing and disposal operations for returned products, so additional studies would be
necessary for real applications including such activities.
Guo et al. (2017) demonstrated with the use of metaheuristics that multiperiod solutions of
dynamic models are more compatible with the reality of reverse logistics networks than those of single
period solutions, contributing significantly to the cost reduction. However, assuming that different
manufacturers have the same technical capacity to repair returned products, the possibility of applying
the model in different scopes was restricted.
In the work proposed by Yang et al. (2018), the capacity of the MPSO method to support the
reduction of inventory costs in the proposed scope were both evaluated and highlighted. However, the

authors did not consider that the model may be influenced by the variations in demand that give
uncertainty to the operations in the e-commerce field.
The sixth article, presented by Lamba et al. (2019), showed that though the adoption of a hybrid
methodology it was possible to reduce the inaccuracy in the classification resulting from the opinion
of experts, as well as suggested the adoption of best practices for the development of reverse flows of
online purchases. However, to provide more flexibility and speed in the execution during comparisons,
the barriers in reverse logistics including the e-commerce supply chain could be compiled in groups
instead of being individually analyzed.
Finally, Wu et al. (2019) used a subjective concept of justice, which represented the sensation
of online and physical recyclers regarding the ideal supply chain price and revenue, to understand the
impact of their study on the supply chain, however, they restricted the analysis to a reverse operation
that disregards different degrees of deterioration of returned products.
The selected articles bring different methods to enable new reverse logistics operations, as well
as proposals to optimize existing operations, but specifically about cost reduction and execution
barriers. Even considering the unquestionable contributions of the previously mentioned studies, that
can be classified as precursors in the research of reverse logistics applied to e-commerce, they assumed
premises and have restricted the scope to specific cases and products, which imply in a complementary
effort to generalize the proposed approaches in case of new studies and applications, where this can be
considered an important knowledge gap identified in this research. Moreover, interesting results were
presented when artificial intelligence methods were assumed, showing a tendency in the application of
this type of method in this specific field.
5 DISCUSSION
The paradigms regarding production and consumption flow, associated with legal and
governmental initiatives have driven studies and actions to reverse logistics. Over the last ten years,
studies have demonstrated that reverse logistics did not apply only to the proper final disposal of end-
of-life products as tires, batteries, medicines among others, but has assumed an important role in the
reintroduction of products and energy in the production chains, making them more sustainable.
However, most publications reported in this study are restricted to traditional businesses, that
is, they address solutions applied to offline retail, structure, and outsourcing of the reverse logistics
network, and remanufacturing processes. The accelerated growth of electronic commerce in recent
years, especially due to social distancing in 2020 (Kim, 2020), emphasizes the need of providing

alternatives to deal with returns from this segment, especially those related to sustainable initiatives.
Such alternatives have the challenge of being developed to contemplate complex conditions of online
operations, especially in cases where a single website can operate as a marketplace as a host for several
other online retailers. However, regardless the type of operation that e-commerce adopts, both the
uncertainty of demand and the return are high (Lamba et al., 2019), product variability is generally
high, and the transport agents for the collection and destination of returns are restricted, which makes
the solution of the RLec problem even more complex.
In this sense, some RLec management strategies can be developed to minimize the number of
returns, such as the provision of objective information on the product characteristics and exchange
policy or, as suggested by Jayaraman et al. (2008) and Wang et al. (2013), for the establishment of an
efficient information system. Once reverse logistics allows identifying and classifying the return
reason, as well as the types of recovery and disposal, this information should be adopted by companies
to understand both the customers’ behavior and the market focusing on future adjustments for the
supply chain, in order to enable cost optimization, reduce processing time and add value to return
products, as proposed by de Araújo et al. (2018). One way to solve this task is assuming artificial
intelligence methods, especially machine learning approaches, that can learn from previous data
focusing on more sustainable reverse logistics actions how it exposes Agrawa and Kr Singh (2019) and
González Rodríguez et al. (2020).
What is being presented in recent researches can be understood as adapted approaches focusing
on specific markets and operation conditions, frequently considering one type of product or an
economic aspect to simplify the models and to reduce the complexity of the problem. In this context, a
lack of more generic approaches, especially for e-commerce, is still a need to be contemplated by future
researches.
This systematic review and content analysis revealed only 7 publications linked to RLec, which
dealt with the structuring of the reverse logistics network in favor of the reduction of operating costs,
of the main barriers of execution (lack of investment, demands for delivery, and uncertain returns and
inexperience about the process), as well as the influence that product return policies can exert on
consumers' decision on new purchases. However, it was found that, in addition to the lack of unanimous
decision-making methods in the area, some premises were adopted to simplify the models, which in
practice may not represent real operating conditions.
In this way, authors report that approaches providing flexibility to the reverse operations of
online markets, which contemplate different types of products and return destinations, or even that

present alternative solutions for collecting and managing returns, as considered by the third-party
reverse logistics (3PRL) (Guarnieri et al., 2015), will be welcomed for the area.
Such approaches, as proposed by Karaman et al. (2020), may involve optimization in the routing
of vehicles that enable the reduction of atmospheric emissions, as well as resources in terms of time
and energy. Moreover, Lu et al. (2020) identified packaging solutions that combat excess packaging
and at the same time enable the safe delivery of products to reduce waste and returns due to damage.
Or even the proposals such as Jia and Li (2020), in which e-commerce can appear as a sales agent for
new and remanufactured products, giving a sustainable destination to products from customer returns.
Furthermore, it is important to expand the research horizon in the RLec associated with e-
commerce topic, which can be performed by adopting not only financial but also environmental and
social premises, including in the decision-making methods criteria that enable the optimization of
energy and human resources to ensure the existence of a healthy and efficient supply chain. So that,
Pålsson et al. (2017) suggested that energy saving in e-commerce operations is positive when compared
to traditional commerce, but that energy efficiency studies on returns are necessary since they are rarely
addressed in the analysis presented in the specialized literature.
Concerning the methods used and presented in this research, according to Engelbrecht (2007),
a highly complex problem, such as that of reverse logistics in e-commerce, whose future state is the
result of undetermined behavior, implies the use of approaches involving techniques based on
computational intelligence as evidenced in this review.
Another point that was not the focus of this research but that directly affects the proposition of
reverse logistics models is the access to data and data integration. Even considering e-commerce
applications, many companies are not able to deal with a high amount of data, and the integration of
systems to obtain relevant information through models capable to improve both classical supply chains
and reverse supply chains (Bai e Sarkis, 2019).
Finally, it can be mentioned that the development of generalizable and integrative approaches
may represent greater professional acceptance of the methods since it simplifies the complexity of their
application (Govindan et al., 2015a).
6 CONCLUSION
In recent years, the worldwide growth of electronic commerce driven by the dissemination of
technological means of communication, and the culture of programmed obsolescence became an
important portion of retail sales. Consequently, the generation of waste, mainly caused by the high rate

of returning goods during reverse operations directly impacted governments’ actions to ensure a
sustainable environment for this sector. Added to this, the importance of sustainable actions and their
positive effects on consumers’ recommendations are attracting the attention of e-commerce companies
for reverse logistic problems. The processes for returning products purchased online not only incur
logistical, recovery, or destination costs but also influence the reputation and market share of e-
commerce, as consumers now consider exchange policies and service levels when deciding on new
purchases.
This article was developed to identify which works were published to support decision-making
in the return processes of products from e-commerce and reveal the potential that new studies focused
on RLec can represent to the virtual market sector. The work started with a brief contextualization of
the theme, followed by preliminary research, which provided subsidies for the generation of a research
question, which in turn led to the structuring of a systematic review of literature in the research portal
of Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), from the Brazilian
government. This review allowed the identification of 290 articles, an amount reduced to 92, after
assuming both inclusion and exclusion criteria, focusing on the most relevant publications associated
with decision-making methods applied to reverse logistics in electronic commerce. Afterward, the
selection was restricted to 7 works directly related to the scope of e-commerce. Evaluating the
previously mentioned researches in detail, a content analysis was carried out to understand the
approaches already used and the possible knowledge gaps in this field.
After conducting a systematic literature review followed by a content analysis of articles from
the last 10 years, it was possible to identify 92 methods applied to reverse logistics decision-making,
where the main ones are based on multicriteria and computational intelligence techniques, such as
Fuzzy, AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), the combination of the previously mentioned methods
called F-AHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process), DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and
Evaluation Laboratory), ANP (Analytic Network Process), and GA (Genetic Algorithms).
In the other hand, when the application area was restricted to electronic commerce, the number
of methods dropped to 8, classic techniques like MILP (Mixed Integrate Linear Programming), RM
(Regression Model), Stackelberg Game, and COG (Centre of Gravity) were assumed to deal with this
type of problems. Additionally, multicriteria and computational intelligence techniques, such as PSO
(Particle Swarm Optimization), its variation o (MPSO) Multi-objective Particle Swarm Optimization
Algorithm, GA (Genetic Algorithms), and F-AHP (Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process) were also
considered.

At the end of this study, it was noticed a gap in the specialized literature involving qualified
researches relating decision-making and reverse logistics in e-commerce considering a sustainable
supply chain, an indication that it is necessary to expand the development of both strategies and
technologies connected to this theme.
Therefore, to extract the maximum potential of RLec, aiming to minimize both the production
of residues and the greenhouse gas emissions from product returns, product design studies can be
expanded to optimize the use of packaging and facilitate its disassembly processes. Also, new
approaches can be explored to reduce emissions in collection processes by applying the concept of eco
points, that is, predetermined places where customers can deliver their end of life or exchange products.
Likewise, studies of remanufacturing, recovery, and reformulation of products can be expanded using
circular economy concepts so that they can be reinserted into sales channels as new or second-hand
products. Moreover, other important strategies such as coprocessing and recycling can represent
environment-friendly initiatives to CLSC. Finally, the structuring of public policies combined with
advances in researches in this topic arises as a foundation for the environmental, economic, and socially
sustainable progress of this activity.
The research contribution associate with this study is focused on the identification of
applications, methods, and trends associating with reverse logistics in e-commerce. In terms of
applications, most of the identified cases are related to the design of the reverse logistics network, to
barriers of implementation of RLec, as well as studies focused on the influence of return policies on
consumer behavior in new purchases. Regarding the methods, there is a propensity to use hybrid
methods involving cloudy systems, to reduce the uncertainty and subjectivity of decisions of complex
systems such as those of RLec. In this sense, online operations are not only practical for consumers,
but they can also enable the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding the displacement of
consumers to stores. In addition to the use of models that abstract the complexity of RLec, they can
provide to e-commerce more sustainable operations, minimizing the number of returns due to damage,
reducing the waste associated with packaging, as well as allowing the recovery of products for their
reinsertion in CLSC.
As suggestions for future work, the authors of this literature review indicate the application of
existing methods and the development of new strategies to solve reverse logistics problems associated
with e-commerce. Additionally, we suggest the analysis of reverse operations in e-commerce with the
use of hybrid methods, especially those based on computational intelligence techniques, focusing on
reducing subjectivity in determining post-delivery treatment, to provide scalability and to maintain the

profitability of the service. To conclude, a more generalized approach involving decision-making

problems should also be considered, where more complex cases could be assumed to compare the
performance of distinct methods, a topic barely explored within the e-commerce context.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the support from the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education
Personnel – Finance Code 001, and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development
(CNPq – Grant # 304783/2017-0) for funding this research.

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Brazilian Journal of Development 98347

Reverse logistics applied to E-commerce: A Systematic Literature Review on

Logística reversa aplicada ao comércio eletrônico: uma revisão sistemática da

Recebimento dos originais: 15/11/2020

Ayla Lohanna da Silva

Roberto Zanetti Freire

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, decision-making, e-commerce, reverse logistics.

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Keywords: Inteligência artificial, tomada de decisões, comércio electrónico, logística inversa.

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Figure 1 - Research Methodology

3.1 PRELIMINARY RESEARCH STAGE

3.1.1 Research questions

3.1.2 Keywords definition

3.1.3 Keywords relationship

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Figure 2 - Keyword crossing strategy

3.2 SEARCHING FOR ARTICLES IN SCIENTIFIC DATABASES

Table 1 - Time distribution of publications

3.3 ARTICLES SELECTION PROCESS: INCLUSION AND EXCLUSION CRITERIA

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Table 2 - Articles selected by crossing terms

Figure 3 - Number of articles published per year

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Figure 4 - Concentration of publication by countries

3.4 CLASSIFICATION OF ARTICLES CONCERNING APPROACHES AND METHODS

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Figure 5 - Number of publications of the main methods in the last 10 years

AHP F-AHP DEMATEL Fuzzy ANP GA

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Figure 6 - Concentration of methods applied by articles

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Figure 7 - Concentration of publications by Journals

Table 3 - Resolution methods applied

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CCS-BPM - CCS-Stackelberg Pricing Model 1

4.1 THE IDENTIFICATION OF RESEARCHES APPLIED TO E-COMMERCE

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Table 4 - Main characteristics of publications associated with e-commerce

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Figure 8 - Number of times the authors were cited

Table 5 - Recurrence of authors per publication

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Figure 9 - Number of times a reference is cited

4.2 ANALYSIS BY RELEVANCE, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND LIMITATIONS

Table 6 - Relevance, contributions, and limitations of publications

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Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

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profitability of the service. To conclude, a more generalized approach involving decision-making

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761

Braz. J. of Develop., Curitiba, v. 6, n.12, p.98347-98379 dec. 2020. ISSN 2525-8761