Retail trade Switzerland lags behind in second-hand online trade

The Swiss are buying more and more second-hand items online. According to Myriam Meier, Head of Retail at the GFK market research institute, almost every second person in Switzerland has bought at least one second-hand item in the last few months.

Nevertheless, second-hand online retail is not yet as established in Switzerland as it is abroad. In France, for example, the Vinted platform, an online marketplace for second-hand items, already has the third-highest market share in online retail. In Italy, the platform is in fourth place, directly behind another second-hand retailer: Ebay. Ebay is also in third place in Germany.

This comes as no surprise to Meier. "In France, for example, it is now quite normal to buy large appliances such as vacuum cleaners second-hand," she said on Thursday at Zurich Airport during her presentation at the Retail Forum.

However, Switzerland is catching up. In the survey conducted by GFK, the number of respondents who have bought at least one second-hand item in the last few months increased by 10 percentage points, according to Meier. It now stands at 47 percent.

She sees the desire for more sustainable consumption as one reason for this, but also the tighter financial situation of consumers. After all, if you have a little patience and want to save money, you can find many a bargain on second-hand platforms.

SDA