Sustainability and practicality are equally key motivators for Hong Kongers buying secondhand, Carousell Recommerce Index reveals

HONG KONG SAR - Media OutReach - 30 November 2022 - In celebration of its 10th anniversary, leading multi-category platform for secondhand in Greater Southeast Asia Carousell Group released the Carousell Recommerce Index (10th Anniversary Edition) revealing the sustainability impact its collective community has made by buying and selling secondhand items.

Over the past decade, the Group's users have extended the life cycle of millions of items, including: 76.8 million fashion items; 33.9 million electronics; 26.6 million hobby items and toys; 11.1 million home items and furniture; and 10.6 million babies & kids items.

To further illustrate the impact, the number of used fashion listings can provide every single person in Hong Kong with 10 outfits. Additionally, assuming all used electronics listed are iPhone Xs, the height when stacked together is the equivalent of over 10,000 International Commerce Centre (ICC) buildings.

Besides the collective impact, the report also featured a study by iAB and Carousell Media Group on the motivations for choosing secondhand. Hong Kongers cited saving money (37%) and reducing environmental impact (37%) equally as their key reasons for buying secondhand items in the study.

The report also highlighted key trends in each market, specifically for Hong Kong:

• Top 3 most popular categories to sell secondhand items are Hobbies & Toys, Fashion, Luxury

• Top 3 most popular secondhand category to browse are Hobbies & Toys, Home & Furniture, Fashion

• All-time top 3 most searched keywords for secondhand items: (Nintendo) Switch, Chanel, LEGO

Recommerce refers to the selling and buying of previously-owned products, including both new and used in condition. The report covers data from 9 of Carousell Group's family of brands across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan markets — Carousell, Cho Tot, Laku6, Mudah.my, OneKyat, One Shift, Ox Luxe, Ox Street, and Refash.

Since its inception in 2012 as a mobile-first app to make selling and buying underutilised items easier, Carousell has grown from a C2C classifieds marketplace into a multi-category platform for secondhand goods in Greater Southeast Asia. To accelerate the next decade of recommerce, the Group has been working on additional capabilities to offer more features and services to users that make buying secondhand items as trusted and convenient as buying brand new items.

Kevin Huang, Managing Director of Carousell Hong Kong, said, "Carousell has been in Hong Kong since 2016, and we are heartened to have the strong brand love of 1 in 5 Hong Kongers being active users. Over the years, we have rolled out various features, initiatives and campaigns to support our casual users and merchants, and make choosing sustainable shopping choices as practical and convenient as possible. We are continuing to explore additional features to improve the marketplace experience, and provide even more ways to choose secondhand in the near future."

The Carousell Recommerce Index (10th anniversary edition) is available for download on http://press.carousell.com/carousell-green