Selling is hard. Selling in a crowded market is harder. Selling when the market is in the process of commoditizing is extremely challenging.

I wrote about the ways we're seeing providers stand out and win more deals for the Slotted blog this week. Spoiler: It's not pricing.

What to expect in today's newsletter:

1. Insights into brand expectations and consumer behavior surrounding returns

2. Roles that are currently open the world of fulfillment

3. Introduction to Stock - A donations marketplace where extra, obsolete, and abandoned inventory can find a home with a non-profit in need.

What's trending:

With peak season in full swing, the conversations around returns and overstock are moving to the forefront for brands and operators.

Just "doing" returns is no longer acceptable. You must excel at returns. Don't believe me? Check out the State of Returns report from Two Boxes and Radial. Two stats that blew me away:

📦 74% of Apparel and Footwear brands believe it's important that their fulfillment partner can process returns effectively.

📦 29% are most likely to end a fulfillment relationship specifically over poor returns capabilities.

Return rates increase around the holiday season with most items being unsellable once returned. This erodes margins and ties up cashflow for merchants. providing an opportunity for Fulfillment providers to bring value to their merchants through strategic partnerships and solutions.

Opportunities in Fulfillment

Solution Provider Highlight: Stock

The short and dirty of it is this... Stock is the marketplace for donations. 

Donations are an underutilized solution for overstocked and obsolete inventory. No matter how obscure or expired a product may be, there is likely a donation solution that can be used instead of disposal.

Stock connects inventory — whether it be overstock, obsolete, or abandoned — with the right non-profit. Instead of the brand or the provider doing the extra work, Stock handles it. The nonprofits pay for the transportation and Stock manages all the logistics and administrative components of the donation making it incredibly easy for the 3PLs to get excess out of their buildings.

Stock supports fulfillment providers in two main ways:

1. Providing an avenue to quickly and responsibly unload abandoned inventory

2. Providing additional value to future or current clients with an easy and seamless way to free up capital.

To support fulfillment providers looking to provide Stock's donation services to their current clients, Stock provides marketing materials and step-by-step guides for account managers and sales teams to pitch it to your happy and thriving customers. Having a donation arm for your 3PL makes you incredibly sticky and makes brands super happy.

To learn more about Stock, and ways that obsolete inventory can be leveraged beyond destruction and disposal, head to their website and check out the clip below from a conversation between Stock's Founder, Abby Nawrocki, and Slotted's General Manager, Joe McIntyre.