- An interesting consumer trend is the love for marquee brands like Apple, Mi, Samsung and Moto in the refurbished market
- Among categories, mobiles, laptops, headphones and speakers have been a big hit with customers
NEW DELHI: If you are looking to buy a second-hand refurbished model of the latest smartphone, your waiting time could be as less as just six months after the model’s launch. This is because the average usage cycle of a smartphone has fallen sharply.
According to Chanakya Gupta, head of Flipkart’s 2GUD platform for refurbished goods, the average usage cycle of a mobile phone has now reduced to 12-14 months.
“After this period, a large proportion of customers tends to seek out new phones and look to sell their old ones. We do see models become popular on our platform around 6-9 months after launch,” Gupta told Livemint.
Refurbished products are popular because they are available at a discounted price than the original model. Flipkart’s 2GUD, which was launched in August 2018, claims to be India’s largest platform for such refurbished goods.
Industry estimates suggest that the refurbished market is likely to be valued at $5-6 billion in the next couple of years.
An interesting consumer trend is the love for marquee brands like Apple, Mi, Samsung and Moto in the refurbished market. “The positive performance of brands such as Apple, Mi, Samsung, and Moto on our platform is a testament to the inroads that 2GUD has made in winning customers’ trust and breaking the negative myth associated with the word refurbished,” Gupta said.
Demand for such brands is really a reflection of the rising aspirations and awareness of Indians, who are now increasingly looking to upgrade their phones to the best premium offerings in an affordable way, Gupta said.
According to industry research, India stood in contrast to the trend last year when global refurbished smartphone sales actually declined for the first time.
Among categories, mobiles, laptops, headphones and speakers have been a big hit with customers. 2GUD also opened its platform to refurbished TVs in March. “We are expanding into other categories as well and are constantly scaling up the value proposition we can offer to customers,” he said.
2GUD has seen immense response from non-metro cities. “More than 70% of the orders in the last 10 months have come from Tier 2+ towns, with the highest share coming from states like West Bengal, UP, and Bihar,” Gupta said.
