In Part 1, we discussed the pros and cons of auctions. We also established that selling all your liquidation product via auctions is not always the best strategy, especially for retailers and manufacturers with high liquidation volumes and seasonal variance in volume.

So, what’s the answer?

1. For reliable, ongoing sales liquidation, you need to establish a network of small and large professional buyers
2. You need to continue developing new buyers for your product

If you sell multiple truckloads a week, here’s a two-step multichannel approach that Liquidity Services takes to improve recovery rates for your product.

Step 1: Begin with liquidation.com

The first step is to begin with our B2B auction marketplace, liquidation.com, to establish your baseline recovery rate.

Liquidation.com is the industry’s largest B2B auction marketplace, delivering 4+ million business buyers. Our marketplace consultants will review your product type, conditions, volume, and create a customized asset sale plan that will appeal to the right buyers.

We typically begin your program with smaller lot sizes of a few pallets per auction. This strategy allows buyers to test the program without making a major financial commitment. By having buyers compete for your product, you can quickly determine its market value. Our marketplace consultants fine-tune the asset sale plan based on data and buyer feedback from previous closed auctions.

Step 2: Direct negotiated sales

With a solid asset sale plan and established pricing in place for your program, step two is to begin selling your product via our direct negotiated sales channel. This strategy targets larger buyers , including regional and national discount stores, outlets,  chains – companies who can purchase in large volumes and who typically don’t use the auction marketplace. These buyers purchase in truckload quantities and are willing to make long-term purchase commitments, which creates a reliable and predictable sales pipeline for your liquidations.

We then continue to sell your products using these two channels and focus on adding new buyers, which leads to higher recovery and more control during high-volume seasons.

Why this multichannel strategy works

By using a multichannel approach, you gain access to small and large buyers, both of whom are important for your recovery goals. Using a combination of auction and negotiated sales gives you more control over your pricing.

The secret is to match your supply with the right buyers and the right channel for the best price. A multichannel strategy delivers on both fronts. Diversifying your audiences and your strategies, plus learning how your colleagues are handling their reverse logistics challenges, can significantly improve efficiency and recovery. Download our benchmarking research survey, Recovery & Efficiency: Are Retailers Positioned for Reverse Logistics Success? to see for yourself.

To improve your recovery rates and total recovery value, contact us today.