European Journal of Service Management

Returns of products occur in almost every kind of economic active companies. Important challenge is to use the proper management practices for returns handling. The companies that are aware of such functionality might expect the bigger market success than others. Proper returns management means not only actions taken by the companies themselves, but also activities that can be fulfill by other logistic parties, supporting and supplementing them, so here for example logistic centers. The main purpose of this paper is to present the role of logistic centers and logistic services provided by them for supporting and supplementing activities connected with returns management in Polish reality. The paper presents at first the services at logistic centers and the concept of returns management. Next there is a brief description of research methodology in the form of survey conducted in Polish enterprises. After, research results are pointed out together with illustrative idea of usage the services of logistic centers for more efficient and effective returns management. Finally, there is a short conclusion with the discussion and suggestions for future research.