Companies Selling Refurbished Products Expect Continued Demand This Festive Season
Refurbished goods online marketplace QuikrBazaar expects to gain continued demand for pre-owned products ahead of the festive season this year. Sarath Chandra Gudlavalleti, VP at QuikrBazaar, has said, “We believe the demand for refurbished products to continue to grow in the times to come. Being a made-in-India-for-India business and having seen the trends, we are optimistic about the continued demand for pre-owned products ahead of the festive season this year.”
This is to happen when all major e-tailers Flipkart, Amazon, Shopclues, Paytm Mall and others are geared up with their sale events for the festive season and are offering products at aggressive discount prices and offers. The question stands why a consumer would buy refurbished products given new products are available at such huge discounts and offers.
“As consumers adapt to the ‘new normal’, they can buy good quality products at affordable prices as refurbished and pre-owned products can be about 20-30 per cent cheaper as compared to new products. They also have exciting options like no-cost EMI, warranty, discounts, doorstep delivery, product installation, demo options and buy-back options which make pre-owned products more attractive.” Gudlavalleti stated.
Flipkart’s 2GUD.com, which has over 2.5 million product listings of which 3-4 per cent are refurbished, have also geared with its parent e-commerce platform Flipkart for the Big Billion Days sale starting 16th October. This year in July, 2GUD.Com (launched in 2018) forayed into social commerce to increase its market capture. 2GUD marketplace, which has clocked 3X growth since its inception, is also expected to push the growth graph further in the upcoming festive season.
Before the coronavirus pandemic hit almost every sector of the economy, the refurbished market in India was seeing rapid growth. In fact, in 2019 last year, when the global refurbished smartphone market declined by one per cent, the Indian market for refurbished goods increased by 9 per cent, as per Counterpoint Research stats. (Fact: Smartphone segment holds second-biggest market capture for refurbished goods after the automobiles segment.)
However, as the lockdown was eased post-covid-19, organised refurbished market started to get its momentum back. There was a 54 per cent increase in demand for Quikr Assured (Quikr’s vertical for tested and certified refurbished products) furniture such as tables, bed sets, sofa sets, and wardrobes as compared to pre-Covid-19 times in Jan & Feb. TVs, refrigerators and washing machines were in most demand. Similarly, Amazon’s Refurbished Goods Vertical Amazon Renewed had witnessed a higher customer demand (reportedly, 10 – 20 per cent) post the easing of lockdown.
The challenges of job loses and salary cuts in the backdrop of a contracted economy to have a massive impact on consumer buying behaviour cannot be ignored. Despite that, the companies are hopeful of success. Gudlavalleti said, “While the economic impact of the current pandemic is likely to affect consumer behaviour, we foresee consumers to largely lean towards options which deliver better value. The concept of reusing is not new to Indian consumers. If this unforeseen pandemic has taught us anything, it is to put second-hand first and considering the environmental benefits associated with reusing products.”
