Analysis: Britain's Black Friday shoppers go second-hand in hunt for value

Sonos

23/11/2023 13:27

By Richa Naidu and Helen Reid
       LONDON, Nov 23 (Reuters) - As Black Friday kicks off the
holiday shopping season, retailers and manufacturers anticipate
a growing number of British consumers will be hunting for
refurbished and pre-owned bargains to save cash and shop more
sustainably.
    As persistent inflation and high mortgage rates dent
shoppers' ability to spend, second-hand sellers like e-commerce
firm eBay Inc  EBAY.O  and British charity Oxfam say they are
anticipating increased sales of used items from vacuum cleaners
to clothes.
    Acknowledging that their new products remain out of reach
for many shoppers, more manufacturers are offering refurbished
merchandise at a lower profit margin, following a trend set by
Apple  AAPL.O . Luxury speaker company Sonos and exercise bike
maker Peloton  PTON.O  are both selling refurbished goods on
eBay UK this year, despite the risk it could cannibalise sales
of their new products.
    Nine out of eBay UK's top 10 deals last Black Friday were
refurbished items. This year, discounts will be deeper on
refurbished products, including Sonos  SONO.O  speakers and
Peloton bikes, Eve Williams, general manager of eBay's business
in the UK, said in an interview.
    "People don't have the savings they had after COVID so they
have to be savvier than ever," she said.
    Vacuum maker Dyson has in recent years tied up with eBay UK
to sell officially refurbished products at a hefty discount to
the price of new ones.
    While a new Dyson V11 Animal Cordless Vacuum retails at
around 499 pounds ($622), refurbished ones will be on the
platform this Friday for 218.99 pounds, eBay said.
    The global refurbished electronics market is worth about $48
billion and is expected to grow about 10% each year until 2030,
according to data from Coherent Market Insights. In comparison,
the global electronics market, worth $723 billion, is forecast
to grow nearly 6% each year until 2032, according to data from
Precedence Research.
    Some 23% of consumers globally say they are buying more
second-hand products, according to the EY Future Consumer Index,
a survey of 22,000 consumers published earlier this month.
    Retailers as diverse as Sweden's fashion seller H&M  HMb.ST 
and upmarket UK department store Selfridges are responding to
the change in consumer behaviour.
    Selfridges is aiming for almost half its customer
interactions to be based on resale, repair, rental or refills by
2030, it said last year. H&M last month opened a second-hand
clothing section in its flagship Regent Street store in London. 

    GROWING TREND    
    Traditional thrift stores are also benefiting as second-hand
shopping loses its stigma and British aid organization Oxfam is
offering 40% Black Friday discounts to woo consumers.
    One third of British shoppers are planning to gift pre-owned
items this year, according to a survey of 3,000 people
commissioned by the charity, compared with one in four two years
ago.
    "We've seen a trend of people looking to buy secondhand
gifts for many reasons: one is to save money, the other is
because they're looking to make more sustainable choices,"
Oxfam's director of retail, Lorna Fallon, said.
    Lucy Baker, a 19-year-old student, says she regularly buys
second-hand Christmas gifts for her family, including clothes,
books, homewares and board games.
    "I found a waistcoat for my dad in a charity shop in Peckham
the other day – I saw it and I thought I have to get it, he's
going to love it," Baker said as she browsed in a Crisis charity
shop in Camberwell, south-east London.
    "It's definitely becoming more of a trend," she added.
    Part of the draw is price, she said, as her student budget
makes it hard to buy new items from high street stores.
Sustainability is another factor.
    "I like the idea of rewearing and reusing as much as
possible," Baker said.
    In the fourth quarter of last year, sales in UK charity
shops grew by 8.6% compared the previous year, according to the
Charity Retail Association. Meanwhile, the market size of
Britain's apparel industry has declined 3.9% per year on average
between 2017 and 2022, according to data firm IBISWorld.
    Oxfam is targeting a 6% increase in holiday season sales
this year compared with the year before, it told Reuters.
    Lesley Wright, a volunteer at an Oxfam shop in Brighton,
England, is gearing up for her "busiest-ever" holiday season.
    "We're already seeing it on weekends," said Wright, 63, who
has been volunteering for Oxfam since the mid 1980s.
    "People with families have to feed and clothe children, with
the stressful, extra burden of Christmas gifts."

 (Reporting by Richa Naidu and Helen Reid; Editing by Matt
Scuffham and Elaine Hardcastle)
 ((richa.naidu@tr.com; Follow me on X https://twitter.com/Richa_Writes;
 +44 755 755 9587;))