Consumer Goods Companies Excel in Returned Product Value Retention, Says Aberdeen Report

Consumer Goods Companies Recapture 31% of Value on Returned Products, Leading All Other Industry Categories

 | Source: Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

BOSTON, MA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- February 6, 2007 -- On returned products, best-in-class service organizations manage to recapture almost two-thirds of the original product value, according to the new report, "Industry Best Practices in Reverse Logistics," published by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS). While consumer goods companies outperformed all other industry verticals in this important reverse logistics performance indicator, they still fell well short of the best-in-class mark.

Among the report's key findings are: 

--  High tech and telecom/utilities sectors lead their vertical counterparts
    in reverse logistics cost containment -- with 8% of revenues spent on
    reverse logistics;
    
--  Aerospace and defense firms average 5% of products returned for repairs
    within the first warranty period; and
    
--  Consumer goods companies recapture 31% of initial value, on average, from
    returned product/parts.
With reverse logistics accounting for nearly 1% of the total U.S. gross domestic product, it is not surprising that this process -- defined as the return/exchange, repair, refurbishment, remarketing, and disposition of products -- is quickly emerging as an integral component in leading service organizations' competitive positions.

"Nearly 75% of polled telecom and utilities firms have seen increases in service profitability as a direct result of improving their reverse logistics operations," said Rachel Gecker, research analyst at Aberdeen and author of the report.

"Industry Best Practices in Reverse Logistics" provides manufacturers in the aerospace & defense, high tech, consumer goods, industrial equipment, telecom/utilities, and medical device sectors with industry-specific best practices to consider for effective reverse logistics management.

This report is made available to the public, in part, by the underwriting support of Click Commerce, Metrix, ATC Logistics & Electronics, and Flextronics.

For a complimentary copy of the report, click here: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3865

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Rachel Gecker Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5213 rachel.gecker@aberdeen.com

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