09-06-2020

The coronavirus-related social isolation has made Finns go wild with clearing their closets and selling unnecessary things online. As much is evident judging by the statistics of Tori.fi and Posti.

In April–May, the volume of C2C parcels delivered by Posti rose by nearly 70% compared to the corresponding period last year.

The use of Tori.fi increased by 30% in May, compared to May last year. Records were broken on Sunday, May the 17th, when Tori was accessed 1.5 million times, with 20,000 sales completed. All in all, half a million transactions between customers took place at Tori.fi in May.

“The growth was already strong last year, but the coronavirus has now accelerated the C2C sales even more. This is good news for the environment, because for every item people buy second hand, there is one fewer new product bought and manufactured,” says Laura Kuusela, Chief Marketing Officer, Tori.fi.

Well-known brands are the best selling products at Tori. In May, the most searched word was ‘Marimekko’. Second on the list was Lidl, because Lidl released its sneakers that received a lot of publicity in May. In 2019, a total of 2.6 million garments and pairs of shoes were sold at Tori. The recycling thereof saved 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e).

“Quality products retain their value. The easiest products to sell in C2C e-commerce are sustainably made, have quality materials and are easy to mail. For example, clothes are easy to send because they can be packed in a plastic bag taped shut,” explains Laura Kuusela.

The e-commerce boom is also visible at Posti. Posti estimates that, in addition to more free time, the regression resulting from the coronavirus is also evident in people buying more things second hand. 

“The popularity of consumer-to-consumer parcels is also clear in the logistics centers’ delivery flows. We can see an ever increasing number of various recycled parcels among the commercial parcels,” says Timo Korander, Head of Consumer Services, Posti.

Quality products are also bought from and sold to an area larger than the surrounding residential area. For instance, the sales of the Tori package launched by Posti and Tori.fi in October 2019 increased by 50% in the spring. Statistics show that it has been sent evenly from all around Finland to everywhere in the country.

Source: Posti