Restrictions on the movement of citizens and a possible decrease in income due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic are leading many to think that it is possible to make do with fewer things while maintaining quality of life.
According to a study by Avito, the popularity of C2C e-commerce platforms is growing in our country. This segment grew in two years by 92,5% to 568 billion rubles. in 2019. Growth occurs mainly due to an increase in the number of sellers and the frequency of purchases.
The main product categories of c2c sales are electronics and household appliances (23% of transactions), clothing and footwear (18%), children’s goods (16%). The number of such transactions outside million-plus cities and regional centers has grown significantly. In small towns, the number of s2 s-transactions increased from 14% to 22%.
In our country, the transition to lean consumption is largely due to the unwillingness to overpay for the efforts of marketers of large brands.
“General austerity fatigue in recent years has led to a shift from savings to lean consumption in 2018. 60% of consumers are forced to save money, about 30% have switched to less expensive brands, actively use discounts, promotions, loyalty systems of network retailers, thus buying less expensive products and reducing costs, but at the same time consuming more actively. More than 20% of goods, the maximum number in recent years, are purchased precisely as part of promotions,” says Svetlana Silenina, Head of Consumer Markets at INFOLine.
At the same time, the environmental part of consumer motivation is also important. According to the GfK Plastic Study, conducted in 2019 in Europe and in our country, inpolls of ecology and thrift are considered important by 64% of our countries. In 2015, this share was 56%. As awareness increases, so does the level of anxiety. An ecological catastrophe in the future scares 22%. In 2015, only 9% of our countries thought so.
Things change owners
In economically developed countries, the reuse of things is gradually becoming a sign of responsible consumer behavior, and not a way to save money for people with lower average incomes. In the US, for example, there is a startup called RealReal, which specializes in selling used clothing and accessories from luxury brands. RealReal stores are opening in the most prestigious areas, such as Madison Avenue in New York. The company raised $2018 million in venture funding in 288, and successfully completed an IPO in 2019. Another American startup, ThredUp, offers customers to send unwanted clothes by mail for a small fee — mostly rather expensive things that were bought and for some reason were not useful. These things are displayed at a discount in chains of clothing stores, including Macy’s, one of the most famous American chains.
In our country, second-hand platforms are also for many consumers not a way to save money, but an opportunity to buy goods that are difficult to find in regular retail. So, for example, for a long time, buying used Apple products was more profitable, as the company set disproportionately high prices for its products in our country. Apple later adjusted its pricing policy. Now the most popular VR glasses Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, many consumers prefer to buy on classifieds, due to the high price of these devices on the Russian market.
A similar situation is now developing in the segment of PCs and laptops. As office workers around the world shifted to working from home and students and schoolchildren started learning online, desktop and laptop sales figures in the first quarter of 2020 were the worst in four years. According to research firm Canalys, PC sales fell 8%, the worst since 2016, when sales fell 12%. The main problem is that due to the closure of borders and the cessation of air travel, supply chains were broken and PC manufacturers simply could not meet the increased demand for their products. In this situation, buying used equipment becomes a good option for both companies and individuals.
Maxim Zakharov, the owner of an online advertising agency in St. Petersburg, first applied for classifieds when the company had to drastically increase its staff: “A rather large client came to us and I had to hire several additional employees. In order to save on the purchase of computer equipment, we decided to buy several laptops from our hands, and this turned out to be little different from buying in a regular online store. After that, I used the bulletin board several times for my personal needs. There are things that are easier to buy and then sell, such as a baby carriage, a bicycle. It also often happens when you bought some thing, and then it simply didn’t come in handy for you – it’s better for it to serve someone else than just lie idle. In addition, in a sense, this is my contribution to the fact that people produce less unnecessary goods by spending natural resources on this.
According to Avito, in April 2020, notebook demand grew by 115% year-on-year, while desktop PC demand grew by 2019%, making it the second fastest growing category. The category “games, consoles and programs” grew the most – in it the demand increased by 145%. In the Russian regions, sales through Avito are even becoming a separate business model. For example, the Chelyabinsk salon of digital technology Mobitrade sells inexpensive models of cell phones. The company exhibits its assortment on Avito, buyers call on the ad, check the availability of the model, come and pay for the goods. According to the founder of Mobitrade, Vadim K., up to 90% of goods are sold using this model.
Buyer protection
The traditional purchase of goods on a classified site is a transaction between two individuals. Obviously, not all sellers and buyers are law-abiding citizens, so stories of various online scams have long been an obstacle to many people thinking about using such services. In 2018, Avito launched delivery. When choosing this service, the buyer pays for the goods on the site and the money is reserved on the card, and only after he sees the goods and confirms that everything suits him, the money goes to the seller. At the same time, the buyer can inspect the goods before buying, when they receive the package, and refuse it for free if it does not fit – all funds are returned to the card. This secure and contactless payment method is also available for items that are not suitable for shipping. For example, when a user wants to buy a bike or a set of tires. You can pay for the goods on the site, come to the seller, inspect the item, confirm the purchase in your personal account – the money will be debited from the card at that moment. This scheme is very convenient and beneficial for the seller as well.
“At Avito, you can now buy everything you need in self-isolation — from a laptop and a game console to dumbbells and hair dye. And most importantly, at a reasonable price. Plus, now buyers can order Avito Delivery both at the point of issue and by courier, which is especially important in quarantine conditions. On the site you can find many services that are now especially in demand. For example, the demand for food delivery has grown 66 times compared to April 2019, and the supply of this service has grown 77 times. Moreover, many users offer such services for free and help those who cannot buy food and medicines on their own. Representatives of SMEs at Avito also became more active – we offered a number of discounts and bonuses for entrepreneurs as part of supporting small and medium-sized businesses, and also launched delivery for individual entrepreneurs, ”said Alexei Kurakin, managing director of the Avito vertical “goods and services”.
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