High street and physical retailers could raise up to £850 million of additional revenue by selling refurbished and repaired technology, according to a new report.
Trojan Electronics found the refurb and repair market is worth £1 billion per year and states most are retailers failing to capitalise on the opportunity for additional revenue and sales.
Trojan Electronics CEO James Rigg said retailers have a “role to play” in creasing the “circularity of consumer electronics and technology.”
“By introducing like-new and refurbished products in-store they allow consumers to see the items in the flesh and remove any stigma around them being of lesser quality.”
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The report found that 11% of refurbished or repaired goods sales happen in-store and 80% of all online refurbished goods sales are completed via online marketplaces, such as eBay. But many stores do not have the functionality to list refurbished, repaired or like-new consumer electronics.
According to the report, 64% of people say they have brought a refurbished or repaired electrical item in the past – 38% did so in the last 12 months. Over 10% bought a refurbished smartphone, 12% bought repaired white goods and 9% bought a refurbished laptop or tablet.
Some 79% of people who bought a refurbished product said they would make a repeat purchase and 24% of customers couldn’t tell their item was refurbished at all. Only 1% of people surveyed said they had a bad experience with their refurbished electronic item.
The UK generating the second largest amount of digital waste as a country in 2022 and Rigg said that “few physical retailers are offering the opportunity for consumers to see items in person and make a purchase.”
