Optoro - Best New Business-to-Business Services
Company: Optoro, Washington, DC
Company Description: Optoro powers the circular economy by helping retailers move products to their next best home. Innovating along the customer experience and supply chain, while using smart machine learning and predictive analytics, Optoro helps retailers develop a faster, more nimble supply chain – serving as the reverse logistics platform that propels them into the future.
Nomination Category: Product & Service Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Business-to-Business Services
Nomination Title: Optoro’s BULQ® on eBay: Optoro connects retailers with eBay to give products a second home
If this is a brand-new product, state the date on which it was released. If this is a new version of an existing product, state the date on which the update was released:
Launch Date: November 19, 2020
By connecting inventory with resellers in a streamlined way, Optoro helps retailers resell product that would otherwise end up in landfill and as an added benefit, props up new business opportunities for those who need it, supporting thousands of independent sellers and keeping products out of landfill
As categories like rental, refurbishment, and resale continue to grow – and consumers and businesses seek to improve their environmental impact – secondary markets have become a massive opportunity to unlock growth, keep products in circulation longer, and reduce the amount of product that goes to landfill. But, getting products to their next best home is not easy, especially at scale. Retailers struggle with how to resell product and avoid traditional liquidation channels, while resellers struggle with how to find profitable inventory in a repeatable and efficient way.
BULQ® on eBay connects retailers with one of the largest marketplaces in the world to give products a second home. As eBay’s exclusive wholesale partner, Optoro leverages its relationships with leading retailers and independent sellers to automatically relist products on eBay stores.
BULQ on eBay not only moves the needle for retailers, but impacts the world on a larger scale. The first-of-its-kind relisting solution supports tens of thousands of independent sellers in the gig economy, enabling them to list items on their eBay storefronts up to 50% faster, and keeping products out of landfill in a way that has never been done on this size and scale. Sellers praise the relisting feature that helps them quickly list products on their eBay stores.
With BULQ on eBay, retailers keep products in the hands of happy customers, independent sellers have the opportunity to prioritize their families and other important needs, and the environment sees less impact.
Market Performance:
Top Rated: One of eBay's most reputable sellers. Consistently delivers outstanding customer service. 98.6% positive feedback over the last 12 months. 5 star reviews in all four categories on eBay. https: //www.ebay.com/fdbk/feedback_profile/bulq
Top Customers: Returns from retailers like Target are now being bulk-sold on eBay, where smaller sellers can buy them up and resell them individually (Fast Company). https: //www.fastcompany.com/90576556/ebay-optoro-online-shopping-returns-target-...
Small Business Impact: Independent sellers love the product’s inventory and efficiency for helping them streamline their buying process and scale their small businesses. “It’s mind blowing. I mean, it really changes everything.” – Gina P., BULQ on eBay seller. https: //tamebay.com/2021/06/how-optoros-bulq-and-ebays-digital-approach-enables-selling.html
“To help move all that excess merchandise, Optoro is partnering with eBay, which is no stranger to helping America selling odds and ends online. The deal isn’t designed to let consumers buy individual returned and unsold items directly from stores. Instead, the deal lets individuals and small businesses buy boxes of unsold merchandise from stores through eBay and Bulq, a division of Optoro that handles online bulk liquidation sale, then quickly turn around and relist those items individually on eBay.” –Fast Company https: //www.fastcompany.com/90576556/ebay-optoro-online-shopping-returns-target-ikea
“Together, eBay and Optoro enable retailers to sell returned and excess inventory seamlessly on eBay, and in turn provide an influx of high-demand wholesale inventory for eBay sellers. The two companies leveraged their respective proprietary technologies to make sourcing and reselling on eBay faster and more seamless for sellers, thus accelerating the pace of resale.” –Tamebay https: //tamebay.com/2020/11/bulq-offers-wholesale-goods-with-draft-listings-on-ebay-com.html
“By transforming sellers’ experience of resale, BULQ is poised to help small businesses grow and thrive.” –Small Business Trends https: //smallbiztrends.com/2020/11/ebay-optoro-partnership.html
Customer Satisfaction:
The product is gaining immediate traction with retailers.
“Returns from retailers like Target are now being bulk-sold on eBay, where smaller sellers can buy them up and resell them individually.” –Fast Company https: //www.fastcompany.com/90576556/ebay-optoro-online-shopping-returns-target-ikea
What sellers are saying:
“The manifests being on eBay are glorious. They just showed the pictures and that made it really nice instead of having to click around.” – Catherine S., BULQ on eBay seller
“The generate drafts feature is AWESOME!” – Sarah L., BULQ on eBay seller
BULQ on eBay is a trusted wholesale liquidation source that works with top retailers to put excess or returned inventory in the hands of resellers. BULQ and eBay have partnered to make it faster and more seamless for sellers to source and list inventory on their own eBay stores. https: //www.ebay.com/str/bulq
77 percent of eBay sellers in the U.S. agree that income from the marketplace has given them financial security; 48 percent said it helped them get out of debt, and 30 percent said marketplace income helped pay their mortgage. https: //www.ebayinc.com/impact/global-marketplace-index/
Bay Quote: “Sellers are at the core of eBay and our priority is expanding offerings to ensure we’re providing the best possible experience; that’s exactly what we achieved with our new sales channel together with BULQ,” said Ashish Chhabra, VP, Selling, eBay North America. “Access to economic opportunity is our founding principle, and it guides our partnerships and product roadmap. Especially in light of the last year, tools like this can have substantial impacts on sellers of all sizes who rely on online marketplaces to help supplement their business operations.” https: //tamebay.com/2021/06/how-optoros-bulq-and-ebays-digital-approach-enables-selling.html