Riding the wave of Re-commerce with Liqo Open Box electronics
Hindustan Bytes 
A research report by Marketing week stated that least 7 in 10 shoppers over the world love to rummage through and purchase goods that are used or secondary. The Re-commerce market then will always be a strong one because shoppers are always on the lookout for maximizing their savings in this somewhat established marketplace. What then constitutes this Re-commerce segment?
Recommerce or reverse commerce primarily refers to the process of selling previously owned, new, or used products (mainly electronics) through physical or online distribution channels to consumers who are willing to repair, reuse, recycle or resell them. As an industry its approximate value is in billions of dollars – comprising of unused yet pre-owned merchandise available for resale across the world. Infact, recommerce websites have witnessed a traffic increase of over 1400% in the past decade and this has led to many established names foraying into the segment – Amazon being one of them. Furthermore, the growth of this industry is propelled by the emphasis placed by global electronics manufacturers on reuse and recycling of electronics goods owing to shorter consumer usage cycles. With the recommerce marketplaces getting organized and garnering eyeballs of users, the segment has gone on to beat the new electronics segment globally. Following are the types of electronics goods available as an offering of the Recommerce segment:
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Open Box electronics - Open box electronics are those articles that have just been removed once from their packaging. This could be owing to product demos at retail locations or owing to unused returns to Amazon and Flipkart from indecisive customers. What can’t be technically termed as brand new might also not be completely discarded worthy. Most of these open box electronic goods only show signs of tampered packaging, with negligible harm to the products. This is what makes these articles worthy of selling at heavy discounts.
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Refurbished Electronics – Unlike open box electronics, refurbished electronics are those goods which have been previously used and returned to the manufacturer. These goods are first tested and after warranting proper functioning are pushed back to the supply chain. The process of refurbishment includes data wipes, repairs, replacements, reassembly, testing, and cosmetic repairs – which are then offered to the customers at inexpensive rates.
3. Second-hand electronics – Second-hand electronics also refers to goods that are in a working condition but usually comes with no or limited guarantee. Second-hand electronics are also those goods that are usually sold by the users themselves – generally to other users.
Reasons for the growth of recommerce:
The reason behind the tremendous growth of the recommerce industry can be attributed to the various advantages offered by the industry such as:
- Savings is a key factor that keeps the consumers motivated to buy more.
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There has been a visible shift in the consumer mindset with respect to acceptance of the Recommerce industry
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Pre-owned goods are sustainable and plays an integral role in transitioning to a circular economy.
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One of the biggest drivers of growth is the ability of the industry to offset losses from the returned and unsold goods.
While some challenges still persist in terms of consumer trust and consumer perception towards the Recommerce industry – there is a change taking place slowly and surely. While the west was always open to the concept, it took time for countries like India to create an acceptance for such electronics products. Organized market players like Liqo are taking the lead when it comes to breaking barriers. As India’s first and biggest open box electronics outlet, Liqo is surely riding high on the Recommerce wave across locations like Chandigarh, Panchkula, Kharar, Patiala, Ludhiana, Solan, Bangalore and Kolkata.
