Online retailer Flipkart has launched an independent platform for refurbished products, starting with a mobile site. This is as per a report in the Economic Times.
Called ‘2GUD’, the platform initially offers smartphones, laptops, tablets and electronic accessories, with large appliances to be added soon. Prices will vary from 50-80% of the original product’s price depending on the level of certification.
This development underscores the etailer’s increased focus on tier 2 and beyond customers. The company recently announced their acquisition of AI-led speech platform Liv.ai, to target a similar customer base.
“This (refurbished site) is for the aspirational customer in India,” said Flipkart’s CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy. “The refurbished market is unorganised and we want to organize it and break the barrier of trust.”
It was reported last month that, Flipkart’s plans to launch a platform for refurbished products based on their “learnings from eBay.” Flipkart raised $1.4 billion in 2017 which saw participation of Microsoft, Tencent and eBay where eBay had invested about $500 million in Flipkart and got another $220 million worth of shares from selling its India business to Flipkart.
However, there wasn’t much activity following that. Then, In May when Walmart announced its intent to acquire Flipkart, eBay had said that it had decided to end its strategic partnership with Flipkart and relaunch eBay India with a differentiated offering to focus on cross-border trade.
Several members from the eBay team have been integrated with Flipkart’s 2GUD team. Products ordered on 2GUD are refurbished by sellers either using Flipkart’s company F1 Info Solutions or other third party services. However, the company offers a post purchase warranty of 3 to 12 months.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, “The independent platform ‘2GUD’ aims to bring affordability, accessibility and availability to the refurbished market, while also addressing the problem of trust and convenience,” said a spokesperson of the company. “Through 2GUD, we aim to remove the trust deficit that exists in the refurbished goods market,” said the Bangalore-based company’s Chief Executive Kalyan Krishnamurthy
“Every product that is sold on the platform goes through about 47 rounds of checks and is sold in five grades based on their physical condition — ‘Like New’, ‘Superb’, ‘Very Good’, ‘Good’ and ‘Okay’,” the company’s Vice President heading 2GUD operations Anil Goteti said.
With the refurbished goods market remaining “highly fragmented and unorganised”, 2GUD will remove the buyer-seller interaction by performing the necessary quality checks itself”, Goteti said.
The platform also allows customers to return their products, he added.
The company estimates the refurbished goods market in India to be worth $20 billion in the coming five to six years.
While the current platform is mobile-only, it will soon be available on desktop and mobile app. will soon be taken across other channels including desktop and mobile app.
With this move, Flipkart will compete with platforms such as Zefo, which offer second-hand refurbished products across categories ranging from furniture and appliances, to mobile phones.