How to Recover from Returns this Holiday Season

This week marks the official kickoff of the holiday season as Thanksgiving gives way to another marathon of deals and shopping. Between Thursday and Monday, an estimated 165.3 million people are planning to shop this week, with some 114.6 million of them doing so on Black Friday. All in all, shopping—both online and in stores—is estimated to hit between $727 and $730 billion, up four percent from 2018. 

More than ever, consumers are taking advantage of deals they can’t pass up. And as Thanksgiving comes and goes, they get lost in a fog of food, family, and you guessed it: SHOPPING. But what happens after the holiday shopping spree, when the food coma has worn off and buyer’s remorse kicks in? Well, some $90 billion worth of products in returns to retailers. To put it in perspective: UPS is predicting a record-breaking 1.5 million returns on National Returns Day, slated for January 2, 2020. 

Whether it’s an ugly sweater (or a not-ugly-enough sweater), some headphones that weren’t wanted or a phone that’s now outdated, the returns pile up quickly.  Between extended return dates and the high cost to process returns back on the shelf, much of the $90 billion in returned products cannot go back on primary shelves; this equates to millions of dollars in lost profits to some of the world’s leading retailers.That’s where B-Stock comes in.

Hundreds of retailers (including nine out of the top 10 U.S. retailers) are attaining a 30-80% higher recovery rate for their returned and excess inventory. This includes B2B and B2C Enterprise Solutions for large organizations and our SMB Solution: B-Stock Supply. By leveraging our marketplace platform to auction their returned, excess, or other liquidation inventory, they’re achieving greater demand, higher pricing, and a faster sales cycle. 

Visit our Marketplaces Page to learn more about the clients we serve. And if you’re interested in a customized solution for your returned, overstock or excess inventory – post holiday and all year round – contact us.