A manufacturer of mid to high end tier one branded consumer electronics was spending significant resources for a mediocre recovery of their returned products. They wanted a better solution.
The business’ direct returns were repaired and sold on several e-commerce marketplaces and had a 9-person team dedicated to tracking brand and competitive pricing across channels. They were very concerned with protecting their brand image and reputation. Products were re-priced daily, sales velocity was choppy, with some repricing decisions selling out overnight while others backed up inventory.
Their largest retailer customers were given an allowance in lieu of returning items. This was due to the inability of the manufacturer to effectively sell this large volume. The retailer pricing of these returned goods was sometimes highly disruptive, due to resale items being priced significantly below new units. Occasionally, inventory would back up and the ultimate recovery would be 40–50% less than usual.
