Refurbed, Ireland’s leading refurbished electronic online marketplace, has released interesting data on what Irish consumers bought over the Christmas holiday season. Refurbed’s goal is to become the Amazon of refurbished and sustainable electronic products and over the course of 2022, the company introduced new categories such as game consoles and household appliances, which were all well received by Irish customers. The company, LinkedIn’s Top Austrian Start-Up of 2022, provides sustainable, cheaper electronic alternatives to consumers who want to shop more responsibly and have a positive impact on the environment while also saving and staying up to date with the latest tech.
This Christmas, refurbed found that iPhones dominated as the top sellers with the iPhone 11 taking up 13.4% of sales between the 1st – 31st of December. The iPhone 12 was second and made up 5.7% of sales, while the iPhone SE made up 5.5% of sales this Christmas period. MacBooks and iPads were also very popular making up 15% of refurbed’s Christmas sales. Personal electronic devices weren’t the only thing consumers were buying this December, game consoles, kitchen appliances and household appliances such as robotic hoovers represented 1.5% of sales over the Christmas season. In comparison to December 2021, refurbed saw a 230% growth in customers and a 250% growth in the number of items sold.
As a result of buying from refurbed, this Christmas, Irish consumers saved 217,000 kgs of CO2 and saved 1,380 kgs of e-waste over the month of December alone. Additionally, Irish consumers planted 5,500 trees on the back of their Christmas purchases and as such played a significant role in assisting the rebuilding of Ireland’s forestry through refurbed’s partnership with Reforest Nation.
Refurbed’s devices are 100% sustainable and up to 40% more affordable than purchasing a new device. The refurbishment process that refurbed’s smartphones undergo is up to 40 steps and produces 70% less CO2 emissions compared to the creation of a new device. To offset the remaining 30%, refurbed plants a tree for every product sold. In 2022, refurbed partnered with Reforest Nation, an Irish tree-planting initiative that allows consumers to pick Ireland as a location to plant a tree. Reforest Nation only plants native trees across Ireland, which helps with increasing biodiversity across the country. Refurbed plans to continue this partnership to further reforest Ireland in 2023.
In terms of full year-on-year figures between 2021 and 2022, the company saw over 200% growth in their Irish customers and over 200% growth in orders. Refurbed has noted that the MacBook’s popularity surged in 2022 as it accounted for 9% of the company’s total sales last year. Samsung smartphones also grew in popularity by 14% in 2022.
Speaking on the newly released data, Pádraig Power, Marketing Manager for Ireland at refurbed said, “We at refurbed are thrilled to see the growth in our Irish customer base in just one year. This growth demonstrates to us that Irish consumers are becoming more conscious of their purchases and want to lower their carbon footprint and impact on the environment. Irish consumers are also beginning to see the benefits of refurbished electronic products and are becoming more aware of the importance of picking refurbished over new.
The ambition of refurbed is to get 1 refurbished device in every household in Ireland. At the end of 2021, less than a year after launch, there was a refurbed device in 1% of Irish households. By the end of 2022, with the recent census figures this stands at 2.6%, or 1 refurbed device in every 40 Irish households. This is something that we’re very proud of and keen to build upon over the coming 12 months.
2023 is looking bright, as more and more are becoming engaged with the circular economy, I am looking forward to seeing refurbed’s continued growth throughout 2023. This year will be about impact, and refurbed will be at the forefront of helping reduce consumers’ carbon footprint and e-waste. Instead of 2023 being ‘New Year, New Me’, we hope to see consumers enter the new year with a ‘New Year, Refurbished Me’ attitude.”
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