Numi. Take-back at end of product life

17 Aug

numi. occupies a key part of the consumer lifecycle that is missing in many circular strategies of businesses - how you get products back at the end.

I sat down with Andrea in August and discussed the story of the numi. business. Andrea first told me a little about her background in the consulting industry. Where she worked in helping clients with environmental issues. She started to find this frustrating as she witnessed, time after time, clients lack of action on environmental issues. Many would have big plans with little follow through.

This frustration turned into inspiration when she decided to build her own circular business. She looked for emerging areas that were truly helpful for a better circular future. The take-back sector seemed perfect, and desperately needed. Together with her colleague Mario they started numi.

Where many businesses focus on the shipping of products to customers, few are yet interested in taking those products back at the end of use or product life. Without dealing with end of life it is impossible to create that circle that so many businesses talk about with circular economy. Take-back is not easy though.

There is a lot of complexity in this stage of the product lifecycle. This is where numi. helps. They are building an end-to-end solution for a business – the digital system, the back end, the pre-storing and distribution, all connected to operational partners.

Doing take-back as a business helps to keep products in circles. So instead of a product lingering at off-boarding, it is pushed back to the producers to reclaim, redistribute, or resell. Whatever they need.

numi. also deals with a relevant part of the communication of the take back experience - shipping, label generation, product presorting, item tracking, and customer compensation. With this increased communication there is opportunity to engage with the consumer and raise customer loyalty and retention. A place many businesses overlook as a meaningful communication area.

Take a look at numi., I think they are doing great work at the end of the consumer lifecycle.

https://www.numicircular.com

Joe Macleod

Joe Macleod is founder of the worlds first customer ending business. A veteran of product development industry with decades of experience across service, digital and product sectors.

Head of Endineering at AndEnd. TEDx Speaker. Wired says “An energetic Englishman, Macleod advises companies on how to game out their endgames. Every product faces a cycle of endings. It's important to plan for each of them. Not all companies do." Fast Company says “Joe Macleod wants brands to focus on what happens to products at the end of their life cycle—not just for the environment but for the entire consumer experience.”

He is author of the Ends book, that iFixIt called “the best book about consumer e-waste”. And the new book –Endineering, that people are saying “defines and maps out a whole new sub-discipline of study”. The DoLectures consider the Endineering book one of the best business books of 2022.

Numi. Take-back at end of product life

Measurement at the end.

Action, action, deadend.