Technology firm Optoro works with retailers providing the tools needed to better manage returns. After stores receive rejected items, salespeople punch in data about an item’s condition and Optoro’s software will automatically calculate how to get the most money from that product — sending it to the vendor, to a wholesaler, for scrap or back to the distribution center to get fixed.
The Lanham, Md., company helps retailers list refurbished products on multiple sites, including Amazon and Ebay. Before, only about 10% to 30% of an item’s value could be recovered; now, retailers can get up to 70% by selling directly to frugal shoppers, said Tobin Moore, Optoro’s chief executive.
“Goods used to ship five or six times,” he said. “It took up to six months before they got through the chain to the end consumer.”
Optoro works with 20 retailers, up from five in 2013, Moore said. Half have physical stores, the other are online-only retailers. Returns will only grow, he said, as retailers increasingly offer free returns for online orders.