Tag: recommerce

Singapore – Sporting goods retailer Decathlon Singapore has collaborated with multi-category classifieds and recommerce marketplace Carousell to strengthen its eco-conscious initiatives with the launch of ‘Decathlon Carousell Store’. 

The newly launched store offers customers a convenient and trustworthy platform to buy and sell quality-assured second hand bicycles that have been inspected and refurbished by Decathlon on the Carousell platform. 

Users interested in selling their bikes can schedule an appointment directly with Decathlon through the Carousell app’s ‘Sell to Carousell Bicycle’ button. 

Bikes sold by users to Decathlon will undergo meticulous inspection and refurbishment by their seasoned experts before they are put on sale on Decathlon’s official ‘Second Life Store’ on Carousell. Additionally, each bike also comes with a two-year warranty and can be paid securely upon checkout at Carousell. 

Decathlon and Carousell’s partnership comes as both share a common goal of emphasising sustainable efforts and supporting the circular economy. By partnering with Carousell, Decathlon aims to broaden its audience, leveraging Carousell’s extensive reach of 1 in 3 Singaporeans, including many keen secondhand shoppers, in response to the growing demand for sustainable shopping.

Aside from selling and buying second-hand bicycles, Decathlon’s partnership with Carousell will also allow users to trade their old Decathlon bikes. 

For users interested in trading their old Decathlon bicycles, they can make an appointment on the Carousell app. Upon meet-up, the bikes will be inspected by Decathlon’s seasoned team of experts. 

This partnership marks Decathlon’s debut in bringing its bicycle trade-in program to a recommerce platform in Singapore, following the success of its Second Life initiative introduced in 2022. Second Life offers refurbished goods at discounted rates. Decathlon intends to expand this trade-in programme to other sports categories soon.

It also marks the official launch of Carousell Group’s Brand Solutions, which streamlines the process for brands to offer resale options to customers. This initiative transforms how brands incorporate resale, providing tailored programmes and resale-as-a-service solutions, promoting sustainable shopping, and benefiting both brands and consumers in the eco-conscious market.

Decathlon’s strategic partnership with Carousell signifies its dedication to environmental responsibility by enhancing user engagement in the circular economy. Embracing recommerce, Decathlon offers eco-friendly alternatives, contributing to a sustainable future for the sports industry in alignment with Singapore’s sustainability initiatives.

Nathaniel Gregory, circular economy and services lead at Decathlon Singapore, said, “Sustainability has been a core tenet of Decathlon’s business. Besides enhancing our production process to produce quality items in an eco-conscious manner, it is important to further extend our product life cycle. Having a partner like Carousell whose brand and user community are passionate about the circular economy gives us an increased avenue to reach out to more people who can, in turn, be advocates for a more sustainable future.”

Meanwhile, JJ Eastwood, senior vice president of brand solutions at Carousell Group, shared, “Carousell has been at the heart of the circular economy across the region for over a decade, with the goal of making secondhand transactions more trusted and convenient. Our partnership with Decathlon advances this mission, significantly benefiting buyers and sellers alike. Sellers enjoy the convenience of a buyback program. Meanwhile, buyers at Decathlon’s Official Second Life Store on Carousell are assured of quality thanks to thorough inspections and warranties. This partnership marks the first of many new brand partnerships, ranging from trade-in initiatives to end-to-end Resale As A Service programmes.”

Singapore – Multi-category classifieds and recommerce marketplace Carousell announced it will suspend the sale of Taylor Swift’s concert tickets on its platform across all six markets after seeing a rise in ticket scams. 

Carousell will be suspending ticket sales from February 23 to March 9, 2024, and will remove the existing listings on the platform by February 26. 

The recommerce platform knew there was trouble after it had seen a rise in ticket scams in the lead-up to many of Taylor Swift’s shows across her global tour, as well as Singapore being the only stop of the Eras Tour in Southeast Asia. 

While Carousell is aware that the majority of the ticket listings were genuine, they are also mindful of the unique case of Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and have made the one-off exception to adopt such an approach. 

For extra safety measures, especially given the nature of a consumer-to-consumer platform, Carousell will utilise a mix of AI detection and manual moderation to detect and remove listings.

The recommerce platform is also encouraging its users to help report any listings directly through the ‘Report Listing’ feature that’s available on both the web and the app. A manual moderation team will be reviewing the reports within 24 hours after they’ve been reported. 

Furthermore, to reinforce safer transactions in the ‘Tickets & Vouchers’ category, Carousell has made it mandatory since October 3, 2023, for all Singapore sellers to verify their identities via Singpass before being able to list in the category. Additionally, there will be advisories in the ‘Tickets & Vouchers’ category to educate users on how to transact safely. 

Carousell has swiftly apologised for any inconvenience and trouble their decisions may have caused. The platform emphasised that they are not stopping any genuine consumers from transacting but also urges everyone to do background checks before closing any deals. 

Scammers never go out of style, so the platform is also reminding buyers to be more cautious when purchasing tickets from third-party vendors who may be selling counterfeit or stolen tickets. 

For users who are looking to sell their tickets with genuine intent, Carousell strongly urges them to check and adhere to the reselling terms and conditions laid out by the official channels. 

Su Lin Tan, chief of staff at Carousell, said, “Selling concert tickets is not prohibited by our community guidelines, as we are an open and inclusive marketplace. However, this concert is unique in that we expect many overseas concertgoers who may not know how to adequately protect themselves from local scam tactics.” 

“Additionally, we realise that the two weeks leading up to the Eras tour shows are prime for scammers taking advantage of last-minute panic buying of concert tickets. Hence, we are stepping in to do our part to manage the situation on our platform and working very closely with the Singapore Police Force. We are monitoring the situation vigilantly and taking action against scammers,” she further explained. 

Singapore – Multi-category classifieds and recommerce marketplace Carousell Group has launched its ‘Circular Economy Impact Report’ that showed how secondhand transactions have made a positive climate impact in greater Southeast Asia.

The data from the report revealed that the user community of the platform has avoided a total of 116,577 metric tonnes of carbon emissions in four goods categories in 2022, including fashion and luxury, electronics, furniture and home living, and hobbies and toys. The staggering number is equivalent to 5.3 million trees absorbing CO2 per year.

Furthermore, it also showed that more than half, or 56%, of purchases made in the Carousell marketplace displaced the purchase of a new item. On average, 55% of surveyed users across Carousell’s six key markets have reported an increase in buying and selling of second-hand items in 2022 as compared to 2021.

Carousell has also partnered with European climate tech company Vaayu in quantifying their impact, leveraging its proprietary AI and machine learning (ML) technology, and utilising its Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) database of over 600,00 product data points to come up with the report.

Quantifying the avoided carbon emissions, the report reinforces the fact that the act of buying and selling pre-owned or used items is a better choice for the planet as compared to traditional retail, which involves purchasing new items. It also underscores the significance of every individual transaction in contributing to the overall impact of the circular economy.

Gaurav Bhasin, chief strategy officer at Carousell Group, said, “By facilitating secondhand transactions, Carousell Group holds a central role in advancing the circular economy alongside our users in the Greater Southeast Asia region. As a key enabler of the circular economy in our region, we have a responsibility to lead by example and measure the potential positive impact of choosing secondhand products over new ones in a trustworthy and transparent way.”

He added, “In addition to the avoided emissions calculations, we have also taken the opportunity to calculate our group’s carbon footprint. The robustness of our chosen methodology underscores our strong commitment to sustainability, and it forms the bedrock of our sustainability endeavours.”

Also commenting on the result, Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and chief executive officer at Carousell Group, said, “Our mission is to make secondhand the first choice for everyone. We have stayed true to this mission over the past 11 years, and we remain committed to making selling and buying secondhand even simpler, more trusted, and convenient. With the release of the report, we hope more people realise how easy it is to embrace secondhand as a lifestyle and contribute to a greener world without compromising on the things they enjoy.”

Meanwhile, Namrata Sandhu, co-founder and CEO at Vaayu, shared, “Retail is responsible for 25% of global carbon emissions, and with research continuing to show we’re not on track to keep global warming below 1.5C, we’re at a critical inflection point. Circular business models, like recommerce, offer a clear path to reducing retail’s impact on our planet, which is why we are so proud to partner with Carousell Group to quantify its climate impact and empower communications with its users.”

Singapore – Recommerce company Carousell has announced the launch of its new regional headquarters called ‘Carousell Campus’, which is dedicated to advance recommerce capabilities as part of its goal to make buying and selling secondhand items more trusted and convenient.

Carousell Campus also houses the Group’s first ‘Capabilities Centre’, which brings the group’s brands and subsidiaries into one single location to streamline operations, integrate capabilities for authentication and inspection, as well as allow for more efficient collaboration.

To make peer-to-peer marketplace transactions even safer, the group has also rolled out enhancements to the secure on-platform payment features in its Singapore and Vietnam marketplaces, with plans to continue in more markets starting with Malaysia by end of September.

To increase convenience for everyday Singaporeans selling items they have decluttered, Carousell Singapore will be the first C2C marketplace in Singapore to offer a paperless D2D shipping option to casual sellers. By the end of September, users will only need to write down their tracking number on the parcel, have access to competitive paperless D2D shipping rates, and also skip the hassle of printing out the shipping label for the courier. 

Quek Siu Rui, group CEO and co-founder at Carousell Group, said, “This space marks a coming-of-age for Carousell as a Group. Recommerce means bringing the best things that we know and like from e-commerce and availing it for secondhand products. We have been building up our recommerce business in recent years, and have grown to be the leading recommerce Group in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with tens of millions of monthly active users and 80 million new listings annually.”

He added, “As we take the lead in advocating for recommerce and a circular economy in the region and beyond, we believe in contributing back to the local startup community and cementing Singapore as the region’s prominent startup hub.”

Rui also noted, “Centralising our Singapore-based entities at Carousell Campus has allowed us to strengthen our operations excellence. Our strategic focus on key growth product categories has streamlined our efforts to offer more compelling user value propositions and facilitate more collaboration opportunities to innovate on ways to increase circular economy adoption. This has allowed us to roll out a variety of recommerce programmes and features across multiple platforms and markets this year, providing an e-commerce-like experience. We will continue to invest in growth and technology across our platforms to make buying and selling secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.”

Singapore – Recommerce platform Carousell has launched a new end-to-end service ‘Sell to Carousell’ in Singapore; the latest movement of the platform following its acquisition of Laku6, an Indonesian electronics recommerce platform, in the early part of H2 2022.

The new service affords users in Singapore an advanced option to sell their mobile phones directly to Carousell in under 24 hours from the comfort of their homes or by dropping off their phones at any iStudio outlet, the Apple premium reseller.

At the heart of the new solution is the quick on-the-spot diagnosis which is made possible through Laku6’s proprietary AI-first diagnostic technology. Carousell is able to inspect the condition of secondhand mobile phones in under two minutes and confirm the final quote through its own smart pricing algorithm.

Quek Siu Rui, Group CEO and co-founder of the Carousell Group, shared that since the integration of Laku6, they have seen a growth of 55% in the past half year alone in mobile phone transactions.

“There is huge potential for electronics recommerce in Greater Southeast Asia, which is slated to grow over 2.5X to US$18.6 billion by 2026, and Carousell Group is well placed to cement our leadership,” said Quek.

Founder of Laku6 Alvin Yap shared that since finding out consumers’ sentiment of seeing the activity of selling their mobile phones as burdensome through their own user research, they have been working on developing solutions tailored to local market needs.

“Since the soft launch in September 2022, the program has shown signs of a strong product market fit with thousands of phones processed,” said Yap.

The process for ‘Sell to Carousell’ starts with users filling in a short form about their phone condition on the app or website to get an estimated quote. Afterwards, users will be able to choose if they want to have a Carousell agent visit their home for device inspection and have an instant payout or visit a physical store themselves to complete the process.

This process has been made fully automated to remove the element of human error during assessment, at the same time, allows users the flexibility to change their minds on selling with no obligations upon receiving the final quote.

According to Quek, they would soon be launching similar products in Vietnam and Malaysia through its brands Cho Tot and Mudah.my respectively. He further revealed that the group’s next milestone is to provide an advanced option to buy certified mobile phones that would come with warranty for users who want to buy secondhand with peace of mind. 

“These will give our users more choice and flexibility on how they wish to shop secondhand,” Quek added

Manila, Philippines – Finding ‘The One’ is always associated with romantic human relationships, but the journey of seeking the ‘perfect match’ extends well beyond to other experiences in our lives. This is what recommerce platform Carousell in the Philippines aims to evoke in its newest brand campaign: finding ‘The One’ – the perfect item – that is.

All-in-one marketplaces such as Carousell always bring much excitement, but with such an expansive selection comes the challenge as well of finding that one most suitable item for our needs. Carousell Philippines’ newest campaign, ‘Find The One for Every Want’, simply aims to help and educate consumers in the market in better navigating the recommerce platform for better experiences and more immediate and frequent successes in landing that purchase they’re looking for.

Djon Nacario, GM of Carousell Philippines, shares that the new campaign targets to educate users on the features and tools that are available to them on Carousell so they can experience “the joy in finding the listing that perfectly matches their needs.”

“We’ve seen how consumers searching for items online are confronted with so many confusing choices. With this campaign, we want to help buyers navigate the online clutter so they can find exactly what they are searching for – even if it’s their dream home or their first car,” he said.

A witty hashtag is also at the heart of the campaign, #MayKiligSaCarousell, which speaks to the warm, fuzzy feeling that one gets in love – or similarly – in getting the ‘perfect’ purchase.

Some of the features that the campaign aims to highlight are its easy-to-navigate interface, where users can simply click on product buttons such as ‘Cars’ and further filter the search according to location, budget, and model on one page. Carousell also wants to spotlight its communication features which enable users to chat directly with the seller to obtain information that sales agents usually wouldn’t know.

Furthermore, the campaign boasts its more sophisticated features such as the ‘Inspected’ badge for second-hand cars available on the platform. Cars that carry this badge means they have undergone a comprehensive 188-point inspection process that looks into a car’s mechanical and electrical functions, in and out of the vehicle; as well as the car’s body frame itself, engine bay, undercarriage, and even the car’s registration. Qualified vehicles also carry an ‘Eligible for Warranty’ badge so users can choose if they want to purchase used cars with warranty. 

 “We’re very single-minded in our intention to help our users find the perfect listing that [matches] their exact need,” added Nacario.

To make sure online buyers and sellers know about these features and benefits, the new Carousell campaign will also include a series of fun online videos, articles, and informative posts to help users find the perfect property or car on the Carousell platform.

Very recently, Carousell Philippines has also held the platform’s regional Caroupreneur Awards, which recognises the top sellers on the platform. Celebrated through a physical event in Manila in September, winners and finalists were named across all its product categories.

Singapore – Recommerce group Carousell has acquired control of Laku6, an Indonesian electronics recommerce platform, which positions Carousell Group as a market leader in the Greater Southeast Asia’s electronic recommerce industry.

Temasek unit Heliconia Capital will be supporting Carousell Group in its acquisition of Laku6 and in accelerating circularity in second hand electronics. The deal follows the initial investment Heliconia made into Carousell, less than a year ago in October 2021.

Every quarter, Carousell sees about 2 million new listings in its electronics category, making it one of the largest platforms to transact used electronics, and particularly mobile phones, in the region. Laku6’s proprietary solutions, pricing algorithms and instant cash service, when integrated with Carousell’s wide user network, will make buying and selling used electronics more accessible than ever before for millions of users.

By making it easier for our users to sell their idle devices and buying certified used devices, Carousell and Laku6 aim to extend the life cycle of electronics goods, thereby slowing down the growth of toxic e-waste.

Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and CEO of Carousell, said, “This partnership provides for a potent combination to secure Carousell’s leadership in the Greater Southeast Asia electronics recommerce market–bringing together Laku6’s AI-first remote diagnostic technology, Carousell’s regional recommerce platform of tens of millions of users, and one of the largest capital investments to-date into the region’s electronics recommerce space.” 

He added, “We are truly excited to partner with Alvin, Shing Kae, and the entire Laku6 team. The electronics recommerce opportunity is one that is win-win-win: great for users with affordable like-new devices, beneficial to the environment as people sell and buy second hand instead of new, and an exciting business opportunity with over 2.5X electronics recommerce growth potential ahead.”

Meanwhile, Alvin Yap, founder and CEO of Laku6, commented, “It is exciting to be part of a regional leader that aligns with Laku6’s vision. Carousell and Laku6 share a deep commitment of making second hand the first choice and the demand for electronics recommerce is growing faster than ever in Greater Southeast Asia. With Carousell’s scale and investment, we are well-placed to create a winning formula and offer our proven solutions to a very large audience of end-users and merchants.”

This partnership also follows Carousell’s acquisition of Ox Street, an authenticated streetwear marketplace, and Refash, Singapore-based omnichannel fashion recommerce retailer.

Vietnam – Cho Tot, an online classified marketplace in Vietnam, has launched a ‘Protected Payment’ feature to enhance the safety and convenience of buying and selling secondhand items. The company also has a solid plan to reshape the future of recommerce via building a comprehensive ecosystem.

Cho Tot is a part of the Carousell Group, a classifieds marketplace group in Greater Southeast Asia. Since launching in Vietnam in 2013, Cho Tot has become a well-known recommerce platform with more than 10 million unique monthly users and more than 1 million used items listed every month. Unlike the traditional consumption cycle, which comprises buying new items and then discarding them, Carousell and Cho Tot enable consumers to buy and sell used items, extending the life cycle of these items. Reinforcing the circular economy helps the community take steps together towards fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

In order to increase trust in transacting on secondhand items, Cho Tot’s ‘Protected Payment’ feature is an escrow payment system that provides assurance to users by holding payment until a transaction is verified as successful by both buyer and seller. Supported by third-party payment platforms—mobile e-wallet platform MoMo and intermediary payment service Payoo, as well as on-demand logistics firm Ahamove—transactions via this method are recorded and ensured under Cho Tot’s protection policy. Buyers will be refunded in full if they do not receive items or if the items do not match the description. In addition, Cho Tot will assist in mediating disputes between buyers and sellers in cases of dispute, based on platform policy, to ensure transparency and the rights of both parties. 

Additionally, Cho Tot users can now experience much more convenience when buying and selling used items. Previously, transactions of used items would include multiple steps from contacting the seller, bargaining, making an appointment, verifying items, to making payment. Now, buyers only need to click ‘Buy Now’ and make payment, and the item will be shipped to their address as seamlessly as buying a brand new item on an e-commerce site. 

On the recommerce growth strategy, Hoang Thi Minh Ngoc, chief growth officer of Cho Tot, said, “With the feature of ‘Protected Payment’, we are reshaping the experience of buying and selling used goods to be safer and more convenient. We are planning to develop a comprehensive ecosystem for recommerce via working with strategic partners providing inspection, authentication, warranty and finance solutions; combining online platform and offline services to enhance the user experience for both buyers and sellers.

“In addition, Cho Tot also partners with organisations advocating for circular economy and sustainable development to encourage consumers to prioritize used items as their first choice, moving towards sustainable consumption,” Hoang adds.

On the partnership with Cho Tot to enhance the buying and selling experience of used items, Nguyen Manh Tuong, vice chairman and CEO of MoMo, shared, “We are proud to provide a secure payment solution and secure account for this pioneering feature of Cho Tot. MoMo believes that this partnership will help solve the ‘bottleneck’ for recommerce in Vietnam, remove barriers, and provide an outstanding experience in buying and selling secondhand.” 

Meanwhile, Quek Siu Rui, co-founder and CEO of Carousell, commented, “During the past 10 years, we have tirelessly made efforts to inspire people all over the world to start selling and buying secondhand items. Climate change and over-consumption have made us realise more than ever the importance and relevance of our mission.” 

Rui added, “With the introduction of ‘Protected Payment’ on Cho Tot, we are prioritising a safer, more reliable and more convenient experience in selling and buying secondhand items as the core focus of our growth strategy, directing towards serving the various demands of tens of millions of users in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Across these countries, Vietnam is our strategic market due to its largest user base and significant growth rate. We’re doubling down on our support for the Cho Tot team to accelerate growth organically, and we’d be keen to explore inorganic options too.” 

Singapore – Carousell Media Group, the advertising arm of Carousell Group, which holds recommerce platforms or marketplaces for pre-loved items such as Carousell, Mudah.my, ChoTot, OneKyat and Ox Street, has launched a first-of-its-kind recommerce programmatic buying platform. 

Called ‘Connect’, the tech is launched via the group’s advertising arm Carousell Media. The platform will deploy DSP ad technology and will be powered by the buying, selling, and search data signals generated from Carousell Media Group’s wide monthly user count across Greater Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

JJ Eastwood, managing director of Carousell Media Group, shared that the Connect platform was launched to allow brands to reach buyers and sellers both on and off Carousell’s marketplaces since “inspiration, discovery, and purchase can happen anywhere.” 

“We have witnessed unprecedented growth in recommerce over the last 12 months, that’s being propelled by consumer demand for sustainability as well as e-commerce, and it’s quickly becoming an important component of the consumer-brand relationship,” said Eastwood. 

The group said the Connect platform will give advertisers a viable alternative to the closed environments like Google and Facebook, by providing them with full-funnel marketing solutions and enabling them to engage with Carousell Media Group’s audiences on every ad format, such as video, display, audio, and Connected TV. Furthermore, Carousell Media Group says that the integration of first-party and third-party data sets is what sets the Connect offering apart from others. 

The platform was initially offered to selected advertisers, with Decathlon being a prominent one. The parent group said that as part of 2022’s rollout under Connect, its ad arm will be launching new ad products, such as Carousell Search Ads which will enable advertisers to fully leverage real-time keyword searches. 

As a parent company to classifieds platforms, Carousell Group has been shaping its capabilities to help entities in its advertising efforts. In November 2021, it launched for the second time its ‘Free Ads for Charities’ initiative, an advertising support program for non-profit organizations (NPOs) in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and the Philippines.