The 3rd annual Walker Sands Future of Retail Study analyzes the rise and adoption of emerging retail tech, with a heavy focus on gauging consumer reaction to potential tech game-changers (cue drones) and exploring consumer spending habits.

Returns have long been the bane of the retail industry. Brands and retailers know that a certain percentage of their sales are going to result in a returned product, whether it's an ill-fitting piece of clothing, an unwanted gift or a product that just doesn't work. It's part of the business, and returns are a critical part of the retail lifecycle.

The explosive growth of e-commerce sales is bringing a subsequent spike in e-commerce returns. To put it in perspective: Returns are projected to grow at a 15 percent annual rate, and 30 percent of online purchases were returned last year, according to research from commercial real estate firm CBRE.

Metro Supply Chain Group, a Canadian-owned third-party logistics provider serving North America, has acquired Evolution Time Critical, a European specialist in emergency logistics for automotive and industrial services.

The Department of Defense has retained Liquidity Services, Inc. a provider of reverse supply chain services, to manage and sell scrap assets generated by DoD installations throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. The Company expects to commence operations under the contract on Sept. 1, 2016.

The product return process has long been neglected at companies, written off as a necessary expense that adds no value. The returns function and any process related to it is often given the bare minimum of time and consideration. Typically, once an item is returned, it's thrown into the back of a warehouse and forgotten about while a new product was shipped to the customer.

Narvar has developed Narvar Returns, a platform for managing product returns for retailers.

OnProcess Technology, a vendor of applications for post-sale supply-chain management and optimization, has created the OPTvision platform.