The year-end target of EasyCep, which grew 15 times in 2022, is to renew 400 thousand phones.
EasyCep, one of the players of the refurbished phone market in Turkiye, gained a significant momentum on its growth path in 2022 by raising consumers’ awareness of the benefits of choosing a refurbished phone.
Aiming to make phones and technology accessible to all consumers, the company renewed thousands of phones in 2022 in the challenging global economy and domestically, and brought them to the economy. The company grew 15 times last year, thanks to increased consumer interest in the opportunities it provides. EasyCep, which plans to increase its phone renewal capacity by 3 times in 2023, aims to have renewed a total of 400 thousand phones since its establishment by the end of this year.
The number of stores will increase to 60 and the number of employees to 700
EasyCep, which opened 20 new stores last year and reached 26 stores in 15 different cities in total, serves in 40 stores as of March 2023.
EasyCep CEO Mehmet Akif Ozdemir, in his statements;
“We will reach 60 stores by the end of this year. Ozdemir said, “After CarrefourSA and Turkcell stores, we will soon meet with consumers at our booths in 41 Migros stores across Turkiye,” and added: “Our number of employees, which was 109 at the beginning of last year, reached 477 by the end of the year. This year, we aim to increase our team to 700 people. With the EasyAkademi we established, we will increase our phone renewal capacity to 45 thousand units per month in parallel with the growth of our team, whose technical and personal development we contribute. As EasyCep, we aim to reach a gross turnover of ₺2.7 billion by the end of 2023 with these employment and infrastructure investments we have made.”
The goal is to be a unicorn in three years
“Despite the difficulty of creating a new market, the main factor that has led us to the success we have achieved so far is the consumer’s trust in us, as well as the benefits we offer. We owe this to our technical and financial infrastructure, the expertise of our team and the investment we have made in development.” Ozdemir stated that the world refurbished phone market, which is estimated to reach $64.1 billion in 2022, is predicted to reach approximately $146.43 billion by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of 11.45%. “In addition to this outlook, thanks to our successful performance, we received an investment of $11 million over a $100 million valuation in the Series A investment round in 2022. Our determination and our belief in our business model were very effective in the persuasion process. Now, we are making preparations for the Series B investment round with the aim of raising at least $50 million in investment. Our aim is to be among the unicorns coming out of Turkiye by 2026.”
30% cheaper and very green
Stating that the value they offer to the consumer is very clear, Ozdemir said: “We buy old devices from their doors and evaluate them. We also provide 12 months installments and 12 months warranty for the cash price in phone purchases. At the beginning of this year, we will continue to explain this benefit, which became more evident after the consumer credit limit for new phone purchases to 3 months. The domestic refurbished phone market is not even 1% of the total market yet. In Western Europe and North America, this rate reaches 20%. Recognizing that refurbished phones are up to 30% cheaper than their equivalent new phones, as well as being much more environmentally friendly, will play an important role in the development of this market.”
While producing a new phone, approximately 85 kg of carbon is emitted, 95% of this occurs during the production phase. Emphasizing that it takes almost 20 years for a tree to balance this amount of carbon emissions, Ozdemir said, “As EasyCep, we are happy to renew approximately 200 thousand phones in total at our licensed renewal center since the first day of our establishment and bring them to the economy and the environment.”
We offer an integrated service, not just a product
EasyCep CEO Mehmet Akif Ozdemir stated that they have not only expanded their product but also their service portfolio and said:
“As EasyCep, we are Turkiye’s largest refurbished product market. We attach importance to the diversity of the services we provide in order to provide a better customer experience to the consumer as much as the phones we sell. In this context, we have implemented our business model, ‘EasyFix’, where we take the phones of our customers who come to our stores, send them to the authorized service and deliver them to them within 2 days, and our mobile application, where 20% of our sales are realized. we have implemented ‘EasyCare’, our ‘Phone Protection Package’ product, which we started with the cooperation of Colendi to our product portfolio. We have implemented our business model, ‘EasyFix’, where we take the phones of our customers who come to our stores, send them to the authorized service and deliver them to them within 2 days, and our mobile application, where 20% of our sales are realized.We will continue to grow and expand our product portfolio. This year, we have increased our product range not only in service diversity. We have added Arzum small home appliances to our portfolio, and we have attracted the attention of our customers even more by adding a difference to our product portfolio especially in our stores. I can say that we achieved much more than we expected. It was a very good opportunity for the consumer in terms of price performance. Our most demanded products were coffee and tea machines, blenders and vertical vacuums, which are indispensable for homes.”
Source: Egirisim / Prepared by Irem Yildiz