Carousell faces newcomers as SEA’s recommerce heats up

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Hi there,

I have to admit I’m not the biggest recommerce consumer. While living in Singapore, I probably only used Carousell twice: once to buy a used Apple TV and another time to sell off some furniture when I was moving apartments.

My wife, though, is the polar opposite – at least when it comes to clothes. She and her friends, who work in fashion, enjoy frequenting thrift stores. I never understood the appeal until she once bought a top from Italian brand Missoni for 10,000 rupiah (US$0.67 – not a typo). A new top of the same quality would have cost a few hundred dollars at the very least.

She’s far from the only one who’s enchanted with the concept. And for many consumers, participating in recommerce means killing two birds with one stone: saving the environment and your purse.

As my colleague, Huong, writes in this week’s Big Story, this has led to a rise of niche recommerce companies across Southeast Asia that specialize in everything from clothes and sneakers to electronic devices.

These companies take the fight to online classifieds platforms like Carousell, which has just shifted to recommerce lately for its next phase of growth. But all of them face the same challenge: becoming profitable.

Meanwhile, in today’s Hot Take, I write about why Amazon is making its biggest expansion into healthcare. Amid slowing ecommerce growth globally, what are the implications for Asian ecommerce players?

– Putra

THE BIG STORIES

1️⃣ Niche recommerce takes the fight to Carousell in SEA

Image credit: Timmy Loen

Carousell’s latest acquisition suggests that recommerce is gathering steam in the region. But other startups are determined to get in on the action.

2️⃣ Pomelo nearly doubles revenue in H1 2022 driven by offline retail

The Thailand-headquartered ecommerce firm is “reviewing multiple options internally,” with an IPO as one of the possible routes.

THE HOT TAKE

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