B-Inventory is happy to associate with at the moment’s largest retailers, OEMs, and types on large-scale B2B recommerce options, together with a web based public sale platform that gives half one million enterprise patrons direct entry to returned and overstock merchandise, that they will then resell. 

After shut to fifteen years of fixing these stock challenges for our prospects, B-Inventory holds a singular perspective and a strong, unmatched dataset on the promoting and shopping for tendencies throughout the B2B recommerce market. So, it solely made sense to try the info and compile it right into a report that we’ve aptly named “The State of B2B Recommerce” (accessible for obtain by way of our Sources web page). 

To study extra concerning the inspiration for the report, we sat down with Kylee Corridor, B-Inventory’s VP of Advertising and marketing, to ask just a few questions on at the moment’s recommerce panorama and what B-Inventory hopes to realize with this informative piece.

That is B-Inventory’s inaugural recommerce report—what drove the choice to develop and publish this report?

KH: “Once I first joined B-Inventory, I used to be amazed by the breadth and depth of stock being bought via the platform and by the large potential of its practically 15  years’ value of proprietary resale information. It grew to become clear to me that, as the biggest B2B recommerce market for client items, B-Inventory ought to use its authority to supply {industry} gamers with dependable insights on what varieties of products are in demand on the secondary market, what they promote for, who’s shopping for them, and the place they’re going.

Whereas some manufacturers and retailers have acknowledged the B2B secondary market as a viable outlet for promoting extra and returned stock, large-scale B2B recommerce hasn’t all the time gotten the eye it deserves, so the prospect to make clear a much less acknowledged follow whereas showcasing certainly one of B-Inventory’s predominant advantages was too good to move up.”

Was there something within the findings that got here as a shock to you?

KH: “One factor that basically stood out to me was the breakdown of the products we assist promote when it comes to their origin. I all the time knew that each returned and overstocked objects transfer via B-Inventory’s market, however I didn’t understand till creating this report simply how a lot of this stock is made up of buyer returns.

Because it seems, practically 80% of the stock bought on our platform was beforehand bought after which returned to a retailer. I used to be wowed by demand for all of this once-bought merchandise and by how steadily customers return the issues they store for—it’s a serious concern for companies that many individuals have by no means even thought of.”

The report exhibits that the highest two stock classes by models bought had been 1) Attire, Footwear & Equipment and a pair of) Residence & Backyard—is that typical? What do you assume is driving this development?

KH: “Attire has persistently been certainly one of B-Inventory’s prime classes, which is sensible when you think about how a lot clothes we as customers return, and the way straightforward retailers have made the returns course of. In lots of circumstances, prospects can ship an merchandise again at no cost with no questions requested, and sometimes, this stock can’t return on in-store or digital cabinets. This implies there are mountains’ value of completely good attire clogging up warehouses throughout the nation.  On the flipside, we’re additionally seeing main demand for pre-owned attire. In reality, the attire resale market is rising quicker than the first. 

So far as Residence & Backyard objects go, we’re seeing traditionally extra stock than typical on our market (at the least via the primary half of 2024). One chance is that customers, who had been confined to their houses throughout the pandemic, had been inclined to spend cash on objects to enhance their private areas. Manufacturing of those items elevated in response to the heightened demand. However after the pandemic-era residence enchancment shopping for frenzy, the demand for this stuff slowed and now residence enchancment and residential items retailers are saddled with overstock. 

What’s nice is that there’s secondary market demand for all this stock and B-Inventory might help get it into the palms of patrons that need it.”

What different metrics did B-Inventory monitor within the report?

KH: “The report touches on plenty of main metrics that enterprise leaders would possibly discover worthwhile—restoration charge, gross sales quantity, class exercise, lot dimension—however each enterprise could have distinctive ache factors and pursuits. Greater than speaking any particular figures, this report was designed to provide readers an concept of the expansion and scale of the B2B secondary market and to indicate manufacturers and retailers that recommerce is undeniably value exploring as a brand new strategy to managing extra stock.

We welcome anybody who reads the report and sees the chance throughout the B2B secondary market to contact us for a deeper dialog. If your enterprise is a match, our staff of specialists can be joyful to debate particular objectives and priorities, establish related metrics, and assist construct you a custom-tailored reselling technique.”

Are you able to speak a bit concerning the significance of information to B-Inventory’s general enterprise mannequin? How is B-Inventory utilizing information to boost the person expertise and create worth for its patrons and sellers?

KH: “The B2B resale market (generally additionally known as liquidation) took place in a really fragmented method, with many various sellers, patrons, and facilitators managing transactions offline, by way of telephone calls, and in a really handbook manner. Traditionally, there’s actually been no manner for anybody to  consider market efficiency or enhance their outcomes. Usually talking, that is nonetheless the case at the moment, however it’s one thing that B-Inventory is aware of it may well change. 

One main good thing about the B-Inventory platform is that it’s been constructed from the bottom up with this problem in thoughts, and is designed to convey all of these disparate information factors round fragmented B2B resale channels right into a single place. By doing so, we’ll have and proceed to construct a wealth of information about B2B resale, together with insights round restoration charges, resale velocity, class and {industry} efficiency. Entry to such insights advantages each sellers and patrons in lots of areas, like benchmarking gross sales efficiency, forecasting funds, and optimizing shopping for and promoting methods.”

Why do you assume recommerce options and the secondary market are thriving proper now?

KH: “Truthfully, I don’t consider the resale market as something new. It’s all the time been round and common in sure circles. However as I discussed earlier than, the fragmented nature of the B2B secondary market has traditionally made it laborious for enterprises to acknowledge, consider, and leverage it as an answer to main enterprise challenges.

Platforms like B-Inventory have merely helped to place a stake within the floor and at last made the follow extra accessible and scalable to be used by enterprises. By unifying transactions in a single place and accumulating information round merchandise pricing, buyer-seller interactions, and market tendencies, we’re enabling manufacturers and retailers to trace and analyze recommerce in a manner they by no means might earlier than. Once more, that is how we’re bringing a “sub-industry” that’s been round for fairly a while to the forefront. And the insights inside this report—for instance, the growing variety of truckload-sized gross sales on the platform—serve to focus on wholesome demand for no matter items sellers have to supply.

All of that mentioned, it’s additionally value mentioning that recommerce-based approaches are very pleasant to company sustainability initiatives—particularly when the choice to resale is typically landfilling or incineration—and so they align nicely with the values of at the moment’s more and more waste-conscious customers.”

What can readers anticipate to get out of the State of Recommerce report?

KH: “Whereas the report does broaden on among the ideas described briefly above—reminiscent of how totally different classes have carried out just lately throughout our market—extra importantly, I feel the recommerce report is an effective way to assist readers conceptualize the quantity of stock shifting inside this surging secondary market. And past simply displaying the dimensions of the problem and alternative now we have right here, this report will hopefully illuminate the thought and energy that’s going into addressing this enterprise situation, and present that we’re able to understanding precisely the place all of it goes, what patrons can pay for it, how they buy it, and extra.

The within look into an precise data-backed resolution to surplus client items is what makes B-Inventory’s recommerce report such a compelling piece.”