1. Video documentary - What retailers like Amazon do with unsold
inventory
Every year, Amazon and other retailers end up with surplus inventories that are unsold or unwanted
(returned items from their customers, such as clothing, toys, and DVDs). Most of these items go
straight to landfills or are incinerated. The problem is only growing as Amazon leads the way in
bringing more customers online, where the rate of returns is 25%, compared to just 9% for in-store
purchases. Watch this documentary to find out more about the growing problem of excess inventory
and the strive to cut back on the wasted inventory clogging our landfills and our planet. Students
should answer the accompanying questions as they watch the video.
Questions
1. How many pounds of waste does excess inventory make a year in the US?
2. How many clothes are unsold according to a recent study in Germany?
3. Why do so many items end up in landfills?
4. Which products are unable to be resold and/or have no resell value?
5. What was Amazon’s program called in response to reducing excessive waste?
6. Which product has the largest problem in terms of customer returns and waste?
7. What type of organization is World Vision?
8. What is Amazon’s second-hand/used program called, which sells renewed goods at a
discounted rate?
9. Why is there such a high rate of return (up to 100%) on clothing items bought online?
10. What does MTAILOR’s app specialize in?
11. What does "Rent the Runway" do?
12. How much wasted inventory has Stericycle disposed of or recycled for larger companies?
2. Read JIT and JIC concepts from the Paul Hoang's textbook
Solve the case study given below
Answers :
a)
b)
c)