Takeaways from the E-Commerce Berlin EXPO 2022
Our first year of participating at the E-Commerce Berlin Expo has left a lasting impression. We were particularly pleased to be listed on the shortlist of the E-Commerce Germany Awards 2022 in the category #Innovation. Therefore, we noticed a high interest of the visiting e-commerce experts in our returns management solution. This was also evident in the presentation given by Petra Olah and Jessica Weber from the German BuyBay team at the conference.
In addition, at the B2B Expo & Conference for E-Commerce, we had the opportunity to exchange ideas with e-commerce giants, smaller e-tailers, and other service providers in the industry. Here are some impressions and trends that we took away from the conversations.
“The visitors at the Expo came from a wide variety of industries. Nevertheless, almost all companies face similar challenges. This was also evident in the questions in the discussion after our presentation. The topics of “bottlenecks in the supply chain”, “rethinking in the industry” and “full warehouses” have been reflected in almost every conversation,” explains Jessica Weber.
Barbara Brunelli has noticed another topic particularly strongly: “The topic of sustainability has developed from a hot trend to a strategic and economic necessity. Both customers and stakeholders in companies are calling for verifiable initiatives in this area. This is particularly evident in the area of returns management. It was even more astonishing that we were the only provider of such a solution at the Expo. It highlighted the enthusiasm of our visitors, as we were able to show them that the most sustainable solution can also be the most profitable.”
“The great e-commerce boom of the last two years, marked by the pandemic, is over. Currently, there is more of a downward trend in the business development of many providers,” notes Alex Lange. “This makes it even more important to optimize processes in order to make them leaner and more economical. The area of returns management offers good starting points for this.”
“The audience at the conference was very international. There were many visitors from Eastern Europe but also from the DACH and Benelux region. The recent challenges in the field of international logistics are prompting many companies to bring more processes back into their own region. They were interested in being able to support the entire returns process for our partners in Germany, Benelux and other neighbouring countries,” Petra Olah sums up the feedback from several discussions at the event.
We took a lot of interesting impressions and valuable feedback from the two days in Berlin. Many thanks again to all visitors!
Returns continue to be one of the biggest "profit swallowers" in e-commerce. We have taken a closer look at why returns processes will play an important role in the business strategy of e-commerce companies in 2023 and what new paths suppliers could take.
Today, we celebrate a milestone for Bol.com and BuyBay as we mark our 5-year anniversary of successful partnership! We are thrilled to announce that our collaboration has been renewed for another term, and we are excited to continue our efforts in giving returned products a second life.
Amsterdam/Cologne, November 29, 2022 - With Black Friday, the peak season in e-commerce has begun, and the thought of the upcoming Christmas season‘s returns worries many responsible parties. With annual costs in the triple-digit millions, the issue of returns management remains a problem child for online retailers. So, what can retailers and manufacturers do to streamline processes around handling returns and save resources?