B-Stock helps clients liquidate excess inventory, including through branded marketplaces and its own B-Stock Supply platform where sellers procure inventory to resell.
Buyer demand for essential and “at home” items is up across B-Stock marketplaces, including groceries, consumer packaged goods, toys/educational items, consumer electronics, and specific storage appliances (refrigerators & freezers), according to Director of Corporate Communications Melissa Gieringer.
B-Stock’s retail sellers must address changes in buyer demand caused by the coronavirus pandemic, and they’re also finding challenges in moving liquidation inventory into the secondary market, since many outlet stores, discounters, and liquidators are closed or unable to handle the inventory, Gieringer said. “Accordingly, some of our retail sellers are ramping up the volume of inventory listed on their marketplaces.”
That provides opportunities for online sellers who might want to add essential supplies to their product offerings given the current demand – even if only temporarily. “Many of B-Stock’s retailer marketplaces are currently selling this type of stock in bulk directly to resellers,” she said.
B-Stock buyers who resell primarily online are overall doing fine, even those who are selling non-essential products on their own online stores or via third party marketplaces like Shopify or eBay.
But there are concerns about logistic delays due to restrictions related to COVID-19. “This is especially true when it comes to those who leverage Amazon’s FBA program to sell non-essential goods. Unfortunately, a large percentage of Amazon sellers have been impacted.”
What advice does she have? “For those impacted by the FBA shipment freeze, consider selling your products on other platforms that don’t have restrictions like Shopify, BigCommerce, Volusion, or CoreCommerce,” Gieringer said.
We asked her, “when you look ahead to September 2020, what do you expect to see when it comes to online shopping, and online selling?”
“We are confident that online purchasing patterns, in terms of what products people are buying, will go back to normal – and hopefully sooner than September,” she said.
“That said, we anticipate the amount of consumers shopping online will be higher than pre-pandemic levels, which is great news for online sellers.”
But Gieringer said once things have normalized, the market will still have to flush out all of the excess non-essential products that didn’t sell during the spring and – potentially – summer months. This product will make its way to the secondary market, and for online resellers, this will mean two things, she said:
1) A good opportunity to stock up on discounted, bulk quantities of items to resell at a higher margin.
2) The opportunity to engage with new customers who will likely be looking for good deals given the economic climate.
You can find more information about the services it offers on the B-Stock website, whether you want to sell overstock inventory or buy directly from manufacturers and large retailers.
Stay tuned for more segments in our Coping with COVID series.
