While furniture retail sales may be on an upward trend, there remains significant amounts of excess inventory in stockrooms across the UK, writes Ben Whitaker, who describes how technology has transformed the sale of excess stock.

In the past, manufacturers and retailers depended on a handful of local liquidators to deal with their unsold stock, but a shift has occurred in recent times – many businesses are eliminating traditional liquidation methods in favour of technology-based programmes for the sale of overstock.

This includes launching customised B2B overstock auction marketplaces that connect returned and excess merchandise directly to business buyers. The result is a level playing field for all buyers, big and small, to compete for the inventory, and no more back door deals that prevent independent retailers from getting a fair shot at it.

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