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As retailers juggle e-commerce returns, in-store pickup, ship-from-store logistics, and seasonal inventory surges, stockrooms have become increasingly central operational hubs without receiving better systems or tools to keep up. The result: cardboard waste, cluttered backrooms, labor strain, slower fulfillment, and costly losses from misplaced or damaged inventory.
“Retail operations have evolved but the packaging and systems built to support them haven’t,” said Mike Newman, CEO of Returnity. “If packaging slows down workers, clutters backrooms, or adds to daily stress, it’s not doing its job. Backroom Reality will help us to highlight the problem through their eyes so retailers can utilize packaging that actually makes their work easier.”
Returnity, creator of The Last Box reusable shipping boxes, announced the launch of Backroom Reality, a new initiative collecting anonymous photos and stories from retail associates to better highlight how outdated packaging tools affect labor, store productivity, and fulfillment - and where smarter systems can help.
Backroom Reality spotlights the overlooked strain of cardboard overload and its effects on labor, safety and inventory control. Through anonymous, associate-submitted photos and stories, Returnity is building a frontline insights library that will guide research, pilots, and the future design of backroom tools like reusable packaging systems.
Retail associates can participate at: www.returnity.co/backroom-reality
Contributors may receive appreciation gifts, including coffee gift cards and/or the Backroom Survival Kit — a playful nod to the realities of store work — but the primary goal is to highlight inefficiencies and to improve day-to-day workflows.
“Packaging should make store operations easier, not harder,” said Mike Newman, CEO of Returnity. “Smart, circular systems start with the people who use them every day, not just the brands that buy them.”
Backroom Reality will run through February 2026 with findings shared in a forthcoming industry insights brief highlighting current operational friction and where packaging tools can help drive efficiency moving forward.
