Send It Back: More Online Spending Means More Returns

These days, you’d be hard pressed to find a major retailer that doesn’t offer an online platform or store to purchase items from, and for good reason: now more than ever consumers are heading online to make purchases. In fact, current statistics show that 89% of consumers prefer to shop online – not surprisingly – due to the convenience, value and variety of products available at their fingertips (literally). With the steady increase in online consumer spending however comes an equally steady rise in consumer returns, leaving retailers with a lot of returned and excess merchandise to sort out behind the scenes.

Consider this:

• On average 12% to 15% of online purchases are returned versus 6 to 8% for brick and mortar
• Consumer electronics and shoes purchased online come with the highest return rate of up to 20%
• Relaxed return policies including free shipping on returns drive up the amount of items returned
• Retailers spend an estimated 5% to 6% percent of revenue to manage all aspects of an online customer return

If you’re experiencing higher volumes of returned merchandise due to an increase in your online channel and are in need of a liquidation solution for that merchandise, a B2B marketplace platform can help maximize the merchandise value while lowering operational churn time. Rather than relying on traditional liquidation methods, including negotiating directly with one or two buyers, an online marketplace that connects your inventory directly to thousands of business buyers can increase recovery by 30-50% and sometimes much more.

To learn more about the benefits of leveraging an online B2B liquidation marketplace platform, please contact us. For a look at some the top retailers’ online marketplaces, powered by B-Stock, please visit the B-Stock Sourcing Network.