User behaviour study reveals that Hong Kongers have become increasingly resourceful, buying and selling to make 19% more on Carousell during the pandemic
Hong Kong, 21 July 2020 – A new user behaviour study conducted by Carousell, one of the world’s largest and fastest growing classifieds, shows that resilient Hong Kongers largely adapted to the pandemic by making the best of what they have, through selling and buying. During the period when social distancing was encouraged[1], the average Hong Konger made HK$4,400, selling on Carousell.
Cashing in
Most opt for second hand items for monetary reasons, to either get a better deal from buying preloved items or making extra cash from selling items they no longer need. These motivations evidently became more important during the pandemic, as users made almost 19% more on Carousell[3]. In the period of Feb to June, Hong Kongers turned to Carousell and made more than 860,000 transactions for second hand items to earn extra money, whether it was to save for rainy days, supplement income, or even to cushion the blow of losing a job.
The second hand market has quickly become a top of mind destination for certain items like women’s fashion and electronics, two of Carousell’s historically popular categories. But during the pandemic, other categories began to rise through the ranks.
Empowered Entrepreneurs
With masks becoming a necessity during pandemic, searches for masks have increased by more than 5 times. Users have responded to the rising demand too, with a 3.5 times increase in the number of face mask listings on Carousell. Many, like Winnie Ho (@qqworkshop), started creating handmade masks to list on Carousell. “One of my customers wore my handmade fabric mask when visiting her mother in the hospital. Her mother apparently loved seeing the colours on the mask and the customer was so grateful that she thanked me and ordered another 10 masks,” she said. Similarly, Winnie Cheung (@coxcox) “started to produce handmade fabric masks to try to help those who found masks unaffordable.” She said, “I am so grateful that I can empower the community.”
There were other spikes in demand that Hong Kongers responded to as well. With many working from home, demand for home office furniture almost doubled[4] with over 518,000 transactions. With CarouBiz (Carousell for Business) having launched officially this April in Hong Kong, furniture store Infinity Space chose to become a CarouBiz user after seeing high organic traffic to their page since creating an account in 2019. “March and April are usually the low season for our industry, regardless of the pandemic. We were pleasantly surprised that through advertising on Carousell and using CarouBiz, we managed to increase our sales by three times,” said Wilson Yim, representative of Infinity Space.
Carousell Stories
William Ip, Managing Director of Carousell Hong Kong said “Hong Kongers have always been very entrepreneurial and resourceful, and seeing how they have utilised our marketplace to thrive during the outbreak of a pandemic has been a validation that our mission, to inspire every person in the world to start selling and buying, is now more relevant than ever. Since we launched Carousell Hong Kong in 2016, we are privileged with the opportunity to serve 1 in every 10 Hong Kongers, as well as tens of millions of users globally today, because we have been relentlessly resourceful from the very beginning. It is truly encouraging to see users find success on the platform—be it through selling preloved items or as small business owners selling brand new products. This drives us to work harder so that our platform continues to empower them in their journeys.”
To celebrate and share the stories of Carousellers who have exemplified true grit and resourcefulness, Carousell has launched the #MakingTheBest campaign that will roll out over the next few months. For more Carousell stories, visit press.carousell.com.
1 All mentions of the social distancing period refer to February 2020 – June 2020.
2 Data includes high-value items such as cars
3 Compared to average of same number months before social distancing, referring to September 2019 – January 2020
4 Compared to average of same number months before social distancing, referring to September 2019 – January 2020
About Carousell
Carousell is a classifieds marketplace that makes selling as easy as taking a photo, buying as simple as chatting. Launched in August 2012, Carousell began in Singapore and now has a presence in eight markets across Asia. With over 250 million listings, we are one of the world’s largest and fastest growing marketplaces in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and are backed by Telenor Group, Rakuten Ventures, Sequoia India and Naspers. The Carousell marketplace has a diverse range of products across a variety of categories, including cars, lifestyle, gadgets and fashion accessories. Download the app for iOS or Android, and visit www.carousell.com for more information.
