Boosted by confinement, online sales of second-hand items between individuals have never been so good.
And Cdiscount intends to bite in turn a part of this gigantic cake of the occasion, estimated at 7 billion euros.
This Wednesday morning, the French e-merchant is launching its Cdiscount Occasion platform.
“All product categories will be represented: high-tech, video games, toys, fashion, DIY, books, decoration… details its CEO, Emmanuel Grenier.
Everything except large products such as furniture.
We are working in collaboration with the start-up Place2Swap to enable our ten million customers to sell the objects they no longer use on one side, and on the other to buy them.
Trade is carried out smoothly and securely thanks to a virtual wallet and delivery to relay points.
"
In practice, the model was heavily inspired by that of Vinted, the success story app for fashion.
Moreover, the costs, payable by the buyer, are the same: 0.70 euro per item, plus a commission of 5% of the price.
Deposits and deliveries are made at one of the 9,000 Mondial Relay collection points.
A "circular and responsible" economy
But Cdiscount denies copying.
“Cdiscount Occasion is part of our historic involvement in all circular and responsible economy measures,” emphasizes Emmanuel Grenier.
We have reduced our carbon footprint in the supply chain by working on packaging and trucks.
We recycle products that come back from customers by selling or giving them away.
We also work with refurbished players for smartphones, PCs, consoles, but also urban mobility or small household appliances.
"
For three years, refurbished products have also recorded double-digit growth on Cdiscount.
“The last step is to allow individuals to empty their attic,” argues the CEO.
“We have 22 million unique visitors every month,” says Emmanuel Grenier, CEO of Cdiscount.
LP / Philippe Lavieille
The e-merchant, who also sells travel, mutual funds, telephone subscriptions, new apartments or even glasses, is he not afraid of losing himself by diversifying so much?
“No, all of our launches were successful, sweeps Emmanuel Grenier, forgetting to mention the failures of Cstream streaming music or of cCloud photo hosting.
There were big players opposite, but today we are digging our hole in energy, travel and mobile subscriptions.
I also expect a great success of the occasion.
"
The sector has already been occupied for a long time by giants: the pure-players Vinted (2004) or Leboncoin (2006), the Rakuten (2000) or Ebay (1995) marketplaces, the historical physical brands Cash Converters (1994), Easy Cash (2001) or Kiloshop (2012).
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And that's without counting the power of the Facebook Marketplace which has attracted 35 million users in two years.
Or large physical distribution, which begins to multiply partnerships and corners dedicated to second-hand products.
Large brands such as Ikea, Boulanger, Decathlon, Oxybul, Petit Bateau, Cyrillus and Galeries Lafayette have also launched experiments, both to take advantage of the phenomenon and to retain their customers.
85.9% of French people buy second-hand products
Not what to discourage the last to start in the race.
"One of the keys to success is traffic and we have 22 million unique visitors every month, 10 million customers over the last twelve months," recalls Emmanuel Grenier, CEO of Cdiscount.
Our potential for sellers and buyers is very important.
"
And the market is growing.
According to a study carried out for the payment company Obvy unveiled on Tuesday, 85.9% of French people buy second-hand products.
Nearly one in two French people (48.7%) even intend to buy them as a gift for Christmas.
The motivations are environmental but above all financial.
In these periods of constrained purchasing power, 72.9% of French people choose the second-hand “because it's cheaper”.
