ZigZag Global to help more blue chip retailers reduce costs and waste of returns
Circularity Capital LLP, the specialist private equity firm supporting growth-stage European SMEs in the circular economy has invested in ZigZag Global, a software solution for retailers to optimally manage the return, consolidation and resale of products both domestically and internationally.
The investment was also backed by U.S. Silicon Valley investor Plug And Play Ventures.
Circularity Capital’s investment will further accelerate the rollout of the solution to bluechip retailers. Clients include Topshop, Selfridges and GAP amongst others.
E-commerce return volumes are growing at 10-20 % per annum. In the U.S. market alone, 2.5 million tons of returned goods end up in landfills, the equivalent of the volume of waste produced by five million Americans.
ZigZag’s SaaS platform enables retailers to reduce the costs and waste associated with returns whilst dramatically improving and simplifying the customer returns experience and speeding up the time to refund. ZigZag grades returned products and can consolidate, refurbish, locally redistribute, recycle or even resell stock internationally.
Ian Nolan, Partner at Circularity Capital, said: “ZigZag has developed a powerful solution for retailers to address the growing challenge posed by e-commerce returns. Our investment in ZigZag is highly aligned with Circularity’s focus on using the circular economy to identify opportunities to drive financial value creation in parallel with positive environmental and societal impact.”
Al Gerrie, CEO and founder of ZigZag, commented: “Circularity Capital’s investment will play a key role in fueling our market growth. In addition to allowing us to reach more customers, the funding will allow us to further develop our product offering to deliver even more value for retailers. We placed significant emphasis on bringing on board an investor who brings more than just capital to the table – Circularity Capital’s specialist network and insight in the circular economy was a great fit for us in this regard.“
