Back Market celebrated its 10th anniversary on Thursday 19 September in Paris. Symbolising the change in size of the French giant of refurbished electronics, founded in November 2014, the speakers at the event spoke in English, to please the invited foreign press as well as the Internet users, particularly Americans, who were able to attend online. And with good reason: the United States is now the company’s second largest market (about 20% of its revenues).
For Thibaud Hug de Larauze, co-founder of Back Market and still at the helm of the company, this meeting was less about taking stock of the past decade than about providing direction for the next.
Looking back, the company can boast of having attracted 15 million customers for 30 million devices sold and having established itself in 18 countries in Europe, America and Asia. After going through a crisis in 2022, which forced it to lay off 13% of its workforce (the latter have since returned in almost identical numbers, with 700 employees in total), Back Market has started again early, with a turnover of 2.2 billion euros in 2023, an increase of 32% compared to 2022, for a turnover of 320 million (+ 45%).
Driven by low prices
In Europe, the company is expected to be profitable for the first time in 2024. “Growth used to be what mattered most to financial circles [whichallowedthestart-uptoraisemorethan700millioneurosbetween2021and2022)[cequiaallowsthestart-uptoraise700millioneurosbetween2021and2022)[loquepermitióalastart-uprecaudarmásde700millonesdeeurosentre2021y2022)[cequiapermisàlastart-updeleverplusde700 millionsd’eurosentre2021et2022)Since then we have had to adapt to the fact that money has become much more expensive.”explains the manager. Particularly due to the rise in interest rates in recent years.
In France, around 30% of phones in circulation are refurbished (compared to 5% in 2015), according to the company.“If we do our job right, counting only the United States, Japan and Europe, we are talking about a market of almost a billion people.” explains Thibaud Hug de Larauze. There is considerable room for improvement, as in the United States less than 15% of phones sold are refurbished.
According to a June NielsenIQ report, the winds are favourable, with a slowdown in the new market, while the refurbished market is growing (+1.5 points in France in 2021 and 2022). Another survey proposed by the refurbisher YesYes indicates that 40% of French people who have never purchased second-hand electronics say they are interested in taking the plunge, motivated first of all by low prices.
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