B-Stock diverts 75,000kgs of clothing and apparel from UK landfill in 2022
B-Stock have reported saving 75,000 kgs of clothing and apparel, with a retail value of £5 million, from UK landfills in 2022.
B-Stock, the world’s largest B2B online marketplace for customer returns and overstock inventory sold 120 million items across the recommerce platform globally.
With Earth Day around the corner, value recovery expert B-Stock is encouraging retailers to choose sustainable options that also reduce financial losses, such as recommerce or online B2B auctions, in lieu of landfills or incinerators for overstock and customer returns.
The Signifyd State of UK Commerce 2023 report reveals that 23% of UK and European shoppers say long returns windows make for a positive returns experience. This sentiment is likely to ring untrue from an online retailers’ perspective, as 35% of their goods were returned in 2022, amounting to a 25% year-on-year increase. Velocity is the single most important factor today for companies moving unwanted merchandise. The faster they do so, the more likely they’ll get a fair price for their goods.
The cost of putting returned items through the reverse logistics process leaves retailers with a difficult decision of what the fate of low-value items should be.
Jess Morris, Head European Marketplace Manager at B-Stock, says the pressure on retailers to take a sustainable approach to support their brand image while getting the most recovery of overstock and returns is mounting in every direction. She comments: “Every industry is experiencing the tribulations of rising costs, supply chain hurdles and warehouse storage crises, on top of serving customer demand, which is stretching the limits of viability.
“It’s encouraging to see more resell, repair and rental strategies in operation, however, low-value returns are taking up valuable – and costly – warehouse space while depreciating further, which is currently a major contributing factor for businesses collapsing.”
B-Stock assists the likes of Amazon UK, N Brown, Freemans Grattan, alongside Wayfair EU and Disney EU, and nine of the top 10 US retailers to leverage its B2B auction platform as a sustainable solution for increased value recovery on ‘dead’ stock.
UK e-tailers are also holding an average of £65,000 worth of overstock with little value, and 25% of excess stock was written off all together in 2022. Jess continues: “B-Stock arms its clients with an additional and sustainable revenue stream through an automated recovery solution that clears the stockpile of returns and surplus inventory into the hands of qualified buyers on average in 13 days.”
“The sector has a lot to contend with and customers are making their stance known and are boycotting brands that don’t live up to robust environmental standards. We also know from eBay’s recent Recommerce Report that 90% of buyers purchased pre-loved goods in the past year. The demand is clear, and we encourage retailers to consider how participation in the circular economy will help facilitate a much more sustainable future for the planet, and business.”
