Challenge
When one of the leading global software companies experienced a backlog of consumer electronics product returned by consumers, the company needed a quick solution to sell the product in a feasible, efficient way. The client tapped its trusted reverse supply chain partner, Liquidity Services, for a solution with the following goals in mind:
- Maximize recovery on returned product
- Move inventory as quickly as possible to meet the short timeline
- Make the solution efficient and streamlined to minimize the client’s overall involvement in the process
Solution
Liquidity Services geared its solution to allow the client to dedicate its resources to its core business — serving customers and producing top electronics and software products. The team began designing a consignment-based promotion to maximize overall revenue return for the client on the backlogged units and allow the vendor to immediately move inventory. Liquidity Services leveraged its long-term partnership with eBay to obtain a subsidy on each unit sold to enhance the overall recovery for its client. In addition, the team owned the entire customer experience, including: end-to-end returns process, issuing of refunds, phone/email/chat support, and learning product-specific support knowledge to address technical questions. Frequent reporting built into the solution also provided the client with timely information to update its internal staff.
Results
The promotion designed and managed by Liquidity Services was a resounding success, and supported the client’s “top seller” status for its eBay store based on marks for quality, customer responsiveness, and shipping expediency and options. All 9,000 units in the client’s backlog were sold within a 72-hour period — an average velocity of 86 units per minute — and all were shipped in a timely manner. The total promotion entrusted to Liquidity Services recovered $1.8 million dollars in the short timeframe for the client.
Highlights of this successful promotion also included:
- Logistics responsibility transferred from client to the provider by implementing a B2C channel solution for a large backlog of refurbished consumer electronics
- Managed customer experience allowed for a consistent customer experience with high marks from buyers
- Increased transparency into product flows for client through frequent reporting on active sales on 12 marketplaces, including branded and non-branded storefronts and dropship partners