Flipkart to sell refurbished electronic goods on 2GUD
BENGALURU: India’s largest online retailer Flipkart on Wednesday launched 2GUD, a platform to sell refurbished electronic goods, to tap a potentially large market for such products. Currently accessible via mobile browsers at 2gud.com, the new platform will be run independently and is Flipkart’s first attempt to capture new customers in this segment.
Flipkart estimates there are around 100 to 200 million consumers in India looking for refurbished goods.
Flipkart’s biggest rival Amazon India already sells refurbished goods on its platforms, but much of this demand has traditionally been met by unorganized, informal sellers. The aim is to provide consumers with an organized platform offering products only after thorough quality checks, Flipkart executives said.
The company estimates that the market for refurbished goods will touch $20 billion over the next 5-6 years.
“It’s a massive market and a great opportunity for us to attack the next set of consumers who are online and are looking for these kind of products. We’re solving it ground-up and understanding what the consumer needs. And we’re solving it like how Flipkart has done for other problems—with our scale, technology talent, machine learning and operations infrastructure. We believe that we can get a lion’s share of the pie,” said Anil Goteti, vice-president at Flipkart. 2GUD’S product portfolio will initially include smartphones, laptops, tablets and electronic accessories.
Over the coming months, Flipkart plans to add 30 more verticals including large durable goods, other electronic categories like appliances and possibly
CURRENTLY ACCESSIBLE VIA MOBILE BROWSERS AT 2GUD.COM, THE NEW PLATFORM WILL BE RUN INDEPENDENTLY
furniture. But the largest portion of the refurbished market lies in the smartphones and electronics category, including appliances, it estimates.
Others like Rentomojo have also been targeting the secondary electronics market. Rentomojo, which admittedly focuses more on leasing rather than outright purchases, entered the appliances category in 2015 and on August 13 made its foray into smartphones.
Flipkart’s new platform aims to address consumer anxieties over the quality of a refurbished product.
The products will be certified and sold with a standard warranty ranging from three to 12 months. Flipkart is also standardizing how consumers think of refurbished products by categorizing them under different grades ranging from ‘unboxed like new’ to ‘refurbished okay.’
Flipkart believes its launch of 2GUD has come at the right juncture, after 10 years of its journey which has seen the online market evolving.
With the country’s online market evolving, 2GUD is positioned to capture the next set of consumers, the company’s executives said.
“There are customers who are online today but weren’t two to five years ago. So, around 200 million (new) customers are online and consuming content, and data has become cheaper. The timing is something we are very bullish about,” said Chanakya Gupta, head of business for 2GUD.
Flipkart estimates that a significant portion of consumers for 2GUD will come from the metros, but a huge portion of Tier II and III cities will also be targeted.
The two platforms stand for different value propositions and target different segments. Flipkart doesn’t want consumers to get confused between them.
Although, that does not rule out the possibility that 2GUD may offer new goods for sale at some point, the company said.