The COVID-19 epidemic has contributed to the explosive growth of the E-commerce sector over the past few years. The subtrend of "recommerce," on the other hand, has grown significantly in 2022 and is probably going to continue to do so in 2023.
For decades, swap meetings, garage sales, and flea markets have served as venues for recovering value from unwanted or outdated things. By recycling products, we increase their lifespan and restore them to the economy.
Weekend markets used to be unstructured, but now sophisticated digital communities have taken their place. Selling an old table or organizing your attic has never been simpler, thanks to websites like eBay and Craigslist. Since then, the market for used goods has only expanded. This is how re-commerce started booming!
This article will help you know what recommerce is or what it can signify for the future of your company. As well as the latest statistics, re-commerce how-to, challenges, types, and more.
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Recommerce, commonly referred to as "resale commerce," is the activity of purchasing and reselling previously owned goods online, usually at a discount.
Re-commerce describes the practice of selling previously owned goods to customers who will reuse, recycle, or resell them.
Naturally, reselling previously sold goods is nothing new. But now that re-commerce has entered the digital sphere, it is more effective than ever thanks to the resources and reaches made available by online buying and e-commerce infrastructure.
Re-commerce helps with the environment by lowering the footprints of fashion. Moreover, it helps lower the costs for businesses as well as for clients.
There are multiple ways in which re-commerce works. Recommerce refers to the large-scale recycling of used goods that are still functional while offering a reasonably priced alternative to purchasing something new. At the micro level, it becomes more challenging and particular to eCommerce. Products may be high-end purses, pogs (remember those? ), or construction equipment costing a million dollars.
Items may be well-used, hardly used, or even upcycled, which is the process of transforming used materials into new ones. One example of this is turning glass bottles into planters.
Here are a few examples of how re-commerce companies operate:
With Re-commerce going viral, here are the most interesting statistics that you might need to know about in this booming industry:
Business-to-business and business-to-consumer models are two frequently utilized business structures that are familiar to the majority of consumers. New models, such as consumer-to-business and consumer-to-consumer, are now possible thanks to re-commerce. Both consumers and companies are figuring out how to benefit from the re-commerce boom. Below are three different types of re-commerce:
The first type of re-commerce is informal and official markets, which were frequently used by consumers to sell products directly in the secondary market. Flea markets, garage sales, and consignment stores fueled this kind of person-to-person sales activity before the advent of the internet. Yet, online markets like Craigslist, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Amazon give people a venue to resell used goods to those who are searching for deals on items that still have a long shelf life.
Original equipment manufacturers provide their own means of reselling products in the secondary market because many devices can outlast customer upgrade cycles. Major corporations, like Apple and Canon, provide trade-in programs that allow customers to return their used goods in exchange for credit toward brand-new goods.
Used goods, including everything from electronics to car seats, can be traded in for credit or discounts through programs offered by retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. Companies that sell clothing and outdoor equipment, like REI, Patagonia, and North Face, provide customers the option to donate or sell back gently used items. This gives the products a second chance at life and makes recycling more environmentally friendly.
Direct, P2P marketplaces are not the only way to sell used goods and reuse them. Although there is always a temptation to upgrade as technology advances and consumer inventories of electronic products rise, many people would rather keep their current model. In order to resell the used items on the secondary market, several businesses are eager to buy them. They buy these items and frequently restore them to make them "like new" for the following customer.
The majority of platforms manage all aspects of the transaction, including determining the item's suggested retail price, planning its transportation, monitoring its quality by having workshop professionals examine it, and recycling the goods responsibly if they cannot be repurposed. Organizations like Gazelle and CashForYourMac.com offer marketplaces where used electronics may be easily sold.
Here are a few examples for the industry in which re-commerce is currently widely used:
As booming as it is, there are a bunch of benefits that you can enjoy if you have a re-commerce business:
Re-commerce is still in the growth stage and is still subject to particular difficulties. Some of these problems will fade as people mature. Therefore, for the time being, businesses or individuals involved in the re-commerce industry should exercise caution. Some of the challenges re-commerce faces are:
It has grown more crowded, making it more challenging for new firms to operate there.
With all those challenges, re-commerce has great benefits and great opportunities, and it deserves giving it a try if you haven't yet.