The Online Marketplace Opportunity: 2021 Onwards

As every market in the world was spun in a totally digital dimension, we covered the growth of eCommerce through its past, present, and future—and its booming effect on all things shopping. With the holidays only magnifying outlets to access goods, consumers have had a wide range of options for purchasing and returning products. But on the other side of that, retailers are at a crossroads between preventing loss and capturing opportunity.

Online Marketplace Shopper Habits

As the world spun into digital and distanced shopping habits, consumers started looking for ways to maximize their purchases. How so? They based their preferences on returns policies and what they offer:

In addition, three out of five consumers stated they would be unlikely to do business with a retailer again if they had a challenging return experience.

What are Consumers Returning and Why?

With the elimination of trying things on in a physical store, online shoppers have opted to order the same items in multiple sizes—bracketing—to ensure they get the right size, and return the rest: most commonly, consumers have cited that the reason for sending items back is that they didn’t fit properly. This is demonstrated in what they’re returning:

Retailers have to prepare for the onslaught of returns that’s coming following a heavy e-commerce year, and they then have to figure out what to do with those returns. How can they do that? With a private marketplace of their own.

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way to an Online Marketplace

As eCommerce continues growing, there’s real opportunity in a place where buyers and sellers form an ecosystem designed to continually grow: “Leveraging a digital platform to bring together sellers, buyers, and service providers opens up a world of new revenue.” By partnering with B-Stock Solutions, retailers can leverage an online, private, B2B marketplace to sell their excess stock. Rather than dealing with the challenges of reverse logistics and returning items to the shelf, retailers can clear their inventory directly to hundreds of thousands of vetted business resellers, tapping into the secondary market.

Learn more about how an online, B2B marketplace can turn your post-holiday surplus and returns into cash by downloading our Holiday Playbook.

You can also get in touch with Giorgio Vitale, Head of Business Development, EMEA.