93% of consumers say that their decision to buy and sell second-hand goods is due to inflation. Therefore, the focus is increasingly on making and saving money, accelerating the growth of re-commerce. This is one of the key findings of the third edition of “TOP 100 Cross-border Sustainable Marketplaces operating in Europe”, a study conducted by Cross-border Commerce Europe with the support of Checkout.com, FedEx Express, Lengow, nShift and Payoneer.
The young re-commerce concept conquers the retail trade
The re-commerce market volume in Europe was €75 billion in 2021. Forecasts say it will grow to €120 billion by 2025 (+ 60 %). The share of re-commerce in the total market will increase from 10 to 14% in the next five years.
Where previously the maxim of buying new prevailed and mountains of waste were cheaply accepted, re-commerce marketplaces overridden traditional business models. Aware of the monetary value of second-hand objects, they are inventing a new circular economy in which unused or used products are resold, refurbished or recycled. Whether in fashion, furniture and home accessories, DIY, books, cars or consumer electronics, re-commerce solutions such as repair, refurbishment, rental, and resale are rewriting the history of traditional linear retail. Ecological re-commerce” focuses entirely on collecting used items for repair or recycling and reselling the refurbished products.
At eBay, TOP 1 in this year’s TOP 100 ranking, re-commerce is a central pillar. The company’s report “eBay and the Circular Economy – A continued look at advancing Sustainability through Re-Commerce” not only shows prospects but also the extent to which the sale of used, refurbished, and reused items is already a vibrant and vital part of the eBay seller ecosystem in the EU.
The Top 100 Re-Commerce Marketplaces in Consumer Electronics
A consumer protection organisation has calculated that consumers in the EU spend around €45 billion annually because they cannot repair electronic products. Smartphones accounted for 12% of global electronic waste in 2021.
6% of online trade in consumer electronics was accounted for by resale and 5% by the sale of refurbished articles. The market share of re-commerce was thus 11%.
Back Market’s mission is to make refurbished electronics the best option when buying tech devices, and to permanently embed in people’s minds that refurbished items are more affordable and environmentally friendly than new ones. ReBuy is the leading provider of recycled consumer electronics and media content.
According to current estimates, there are already around 40 re-commerce providers in German-speaking countries – from specialists for segments such as mobile communications or sports equipment to platforms with a broad portfolio. They all share a basic idea: the vision of zero waste in e-commerce, the more intelligent handling of goods and the optimisation of returns management and related processes as an essential step towards achieving this goal.
Source: e-commerce-magazin.de
