Tag Archives: sustainability

What Happens to Our Old Phones?

It seems like every phone carrier offers new phones free or at reduced prices to their subscribers who trade in their old phone. Have you ever wondered what happens to old smartphones after we discard them? Do they have value? Who profits?

The path of the used phones is pretty hidden and it isn’t easy to follow the supply model once the older phones are sold. However (before you ask),  there is a substantial market and value in the older phones with a life (and profit) after the initial user. In fact, analysis firm IDC estimates that more than 282 million secondhand phones were sold in 2022 at an estimated $64.5 billion. That’s a lot of phones!  In addition, thanks to the trade-in offers from carriers, the market for secondhand phones is estimated to increase 10% annually through 2025.

What happens in the supply chain and distribution of these older products? It actually can be difficult to follow as many firms will not specify where the phones go. However, a recent video from the WSJ traces the path and gives insight into the process.

In short it works like this:

  • An old phone in gets traded in and the owner gets a credit
  • A reseller buys the trade-in phones from the carrier.
  • The reseller cleans the data, spruces up the phone, adds power cables, packages, and then sells the older phones to  wholesalers, who are often operating overseas.
  • The older phones can also sold the buyers on Amazon or to second-hand retailers such as Back in the Box.
  • The resellers sells the refurbished phone at approximately 20-30% below the price of the phone when it was new.

For consumers, the used phones offer a good discount. It also keeps valuable product from landfills.

Ready for a new phone?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Poll students: Who has traded in old smart phones for newer ones? How many have they traded in?
  2. Then count up the number of old phones sold in the classroom – it will likely be a surprisingly high count.
  3. Show the WSJ video about phone trade-ins: https://www.wsj.com/video/series/joanna-stern-personal-technology/inside-the-lucrativeand-secretivebusiness-of-iphone-trade-ins/4F0EA296-6546-4603-BF90-8561E08AAD4C
  4. Show Back in the Box website for selling older phones: https://backinthebox.com/
  5. Poll students again: Who has bought a refurbished older phone? What was their experience?
  6. Divide students into teams. Have each team research online sites for selling/buying older phones.
  7. Next, have teams determine the target market for these devices and create a promotional plan.

Source:  Stern, J. (15 March 2023). Inside the lucrative – and secretive – business of iPhone trade-ins. Wall Street Journal.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

What Trends are in Store for us in 2022?

Marketers need to be able to monitor trends with an eye towards predicting what consumers will want next. While it is hard to predict the future, we can examine the current environment with respect to what might happen next.

In its yearly predictions report, international research firm Euromonitor forecasts what consumers will want and need. Companies then can use these predictions to consider the strategies that they might pursue.

Lifestyles in 2021 made radical shifts as populations continued to be impacted by the pandemic. To no one’s surprise, COVID-19 and the Omicron variant continue to be very important to the immediate future.  Marketers and businesses must evolve quickly to keep up with new demands.

Ten  predictions for consumers in 2022 include:

  1. Rethinking the supply chain.
  2. Climate change – a low-carbon world.
  3. Senior citizens and their digital adoptions and usage.
  4. Controlling personal finances.
  5. Prioritizing personal values and individual goals.
  6. The metaverse moves to reality.
  7. Increasing adoption of second-hand and peer-to-peer marketplaces.
  8. City dwellers want advantages of living outside of cities.
  9. The importance of self-care and happiness.
  10. The hybridization of being social.

These trends provide guidance for companies and marketers. Using these, we can gain insight into consumer values and behavior. If 2021 was a year that required us to be adaptable and resilience, then what does 2022 indicate?

What trends will impact you?

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. The full Euromonitor report can be accessed at: https://go.euromonitor.com/white-paper-EC-2022-Top-10-Global-Consumer-Trends.html?utm_source=WSJ&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=CT_22_01_18_WP_Top%2010%20GCT%202022%20EN
  2. Discuss the importance of environmental scanning and conducing SWOT analysis.
  3. Show the Euromonitor report to students.
  4. Divide students into teams.
  5. Have each team select one of the top 10 trends and prepare a discussion for the class.
  6. What industries and companies will be most impacted by that trend?
  7. What should marketers do to address the trend?

Source: Alcantara, A-M., (January 17, 2022). Ten trends that will shape the way we shop, eat and live this year, Wall Street Journal; Euromonitor International (January 18, 2022), Top 10 global consumer trends 2022.

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities

Rent and return these shoes

Let’s start with a quiz: How many running or athletic pairs of shoes do you own? How long do they last? How much do you spend?

If your closet is like mine, you probably have at least six pairs, of which five pairs are very used and dirty. It would be nice if we could wear running shoes until they are worn or dirty, and then just trade it them in for a new pair. Well, as luck would have it, Swiss footwear company On Running is now offering a new running shoe called “Cyclon.” But Cyclon is not for sale – only for rent. Yes, rent. Use, wear, and return them for a new pair.

Cyclon is available for a monthly fee of $29.95. It is a subscription service for not only a performance running shoe, but a fully recyclable plant-based shoe. Castor beans are used as the base, and the shoe upper is sewn from a single piece of fabric to help reduce waste. On Running focused on the challenges of not only creating a fully recyclable shoe, but also making sure that the shoes were returned to be recycled. Thus, the subscription model of ‘rent and return’ gives On control of the recycling process.

It seems to have resonated with the market – in the first 48 hours after launching Cyclon On signed 2,000 subscribers! On needs 5,000 people to sign up per region in order to ship the shoes at reduced carbon footprint of the transportation.

Let’s go for a run!

Group Activities and Discussion Questions:

  1. Discuss a subscription business model. Poll students: What subscription services do they use? Other services they can name? (Ex: meal kits, shave clubs, entertainment, etc.).
  2. Poll students: On average, how much do they pay for a running shoe and how long does it last? How many pairs of athletic shoes do they have currently?
  3. Show On Running website: https://www.on-running.com/en-us/cyclon
  4. Show video of founders discussing Cyclon: https://youtu.be/VtosSdRZcsA
  5. What is the target market for Cyclon?
  6. What elements should be in the marketing program for this shoe?

Sources: Outside Online; other news sources

 

Leave a comment

Filed under Classroom Activities