Online retailers experience nearly twice the return rates of brick-and-mortar retailers, and with ecommerce growing faster than offline sales, that provides both a challenge and an opportunity for merchants, according to Rob Caskey, Vice President of Marketing and Direct Sales for Liquidity Services' Retail Supply Chain Group, which includes the Liquidation.com and Secondipity.com marketplaces.
Caskey says consumers are demanding more from retailers of all sizes when it comes to returns. "Many retailers have adapted to meet customer expectations including free shipping on returns or an extended number of days that a consumer can return an item. However, many retailers have refused to budge on return policies as returning items is a costly endeavor for retailers.
When larger retailers loosen their restrictive return policies, it makes it more difficult for smaller retailers to compete. "In spite of this," Caskey said, "many smaller merchants are hoping to tap customer loyalty and looking at other ways to enhance the customer experience. Many smaller merchants simply cannot afford to be more flexible with their return policies.
Liquidity Services, Inc. operates a business-to-business e-commerce marketplace platform for surplus assets with buyers and corporate and government sellers. Its segments include GovDeals, Retail Supply Chain Group (RSCG), Capital Assets Group (CAG), and Machinio. GovDeals segment offers solutions that enable government entities including city, county, state and federal agencies and related commercial businesses to sell surplus property and real estate assets through its GovDeals, Bid4Assets and Sierra marketplaces. RSCG segment includes marketplaces that enable corporations located in the United States and Canada to sell excess, returned, and overstocked consumer goods. CAG segment enables commercial businesses to sell surplus assets on its AllSurplus marketplace. Machinio segment operates a search engine platform for listing equipment for sale in the construction, agriculture and other sectors. Its Auction software specializes in the development of auction and marketplace solutions.
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