The unwarranted destruction of products must stop.
Amazon is introducing two new programs to resolve its epidemic issues with returned items. The new Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) programs will theoretically make it easier for businesses using Amazon as a fulfillment platform to process and resell returned products, also on overstock products without worrying of destruction.
Amazon’s New Fulfilment Programs Aim to Reduce Shocking Levels of Waste
Shocking revelations found that the e-commerce giant is destroying tens of many items per annum instead of restocking and reselling them, with the value of destruction less than processing and reselling.
After the British TV network, ITV found that one Amazon warehouse was destroying up to 130,000 items per week, including high-end techs like MacBooks, smart TVs, and tablets. The pressure was piling on the retailer to scale back disgusting levels of waste.
The official Amazon announcement puts new steps to assist both Amazon and its fulfillment partners in drastically cut the amount of waste uncovered.
Fulfillment by Amazon introduces a replacement “FBA Grade and Resell” tool. Those using Amazon for fulfillment can grade returns on quality, then make them available for resale through their platform. Returned items can use one among four grades, and therefore the seller can then set a custom price for the resale.
Another change involves how Amazon will handle overstocking or liquidations. The “FBA Liquidations” tool provides how for sellers to recover costs from returned or liquidated inventory. Previously, Amazon would send any stock of this nature back to the vendor, or it might enter Amazon’s FBA Donation program.
Now, sellers have an opportunity of recovering a minimum of some cost by selling their overstock through Amazon‘s wholesale resale channels.
Will the Fulfilment by Amazon Programs Actually Reduce Waste?
If you’re reading this with an eyebrow raised, we do not blame you. Amazon features a long and open history of monumental waste, despite what the front-facing PR messages and glossy waste reduction schemes want you to ascertain.
Speaking to Business Insider, an Amazon source said:
We are working toward zero product disposal, and our priority is to resell, donate to charitable organizations, or recycle any unsold products. So no items are sent to landfill within the UK. As a final resort, we’ll send things to energy recovery, but we’re working hard to drive the number of times this happens right down to zero.
However, this is not the primary time Amazon warehouse destruction policies are exposed, with previous reports from Germany, the UK, the US, and more, with other pieces of sellers have their inventories liquidated with little warning.
Until there’s serious, provable change, moves like these only further issues with Big Tech, especially with matters like greenwashing.
