BabyLoop — the new cool kid in town
BabyLoop was born out of a challenge proposed by SONAE MC, as a new circular economy project by The Loop Co., in late January of 2019. We partner with Carolina Patrocínio’s, a well-known portuguese influencer, to spread awareness to this project.
First of all, we would like to go back to the beginning of this project in order to better explain to our readers the scope of the BabyLoop circular economy platform. Can Carolina explain why this project exists? What was your main goal?
The basic idea of this project is clear: it is a platform that focuses on circular economy, enabling the sale and purchase of baby items simply and quickly, with quality assurance, as if they were bought new. We are talking about products that, in most cases, are used for a short time and are in perfect condition when no longer needed. That is, their shelf life can be extended. We all know that having a child also means a lot of expenses. These products, which are very costly, are an example of this. The benefit of BabyLoop is the possibility of recovering a portion of these expenses and for those who want to buy, to do so at much lower prices. In addition, reusing products is undoubtedly one of the easiest and smartest ways to foster sustainability, a very important issue in the today’s world.
Carolina, you wanted, in a certain way, to be a “fairy godmother” for new and future dads. How would you evaluate these last nine months of BabyLoop? Do you think your goal is being met?
Yes, no doubt. At this point, we can say that BabyLoop has passed the pilot phase with distinction. As this is a completely innovative model in Portugal, we needed to validate it in the market. Unlike other used-product marketplaces, all products go through us and out to the end customer clean and with a warranty. Being able to implement this process, including product evaluation, cleaning, photographing, storage and shipping, was a very challenging task, and we had to make improvements very quickly. It is very good to see that in a few months, we already have more than 12,000 registered users, with more than 3,000 products submitted for evaluation. We were not expecting such a big buy-in from the very beginning, and so we could not accept as many products as we wanted at this pilot stage. Still, more than 400 products arrived at our Logistics Centre and passed Quality Control.
The BabyLoop platform has already helped several Portuguese families (savings estimated at 40,000 euros) and avoided 3.5 tons of waste (according to data released). Is Carolina proud of these numbers? Does this data make you want to continue?
Yes, the results are amazing, and we want to continue! We wish to broaden our catalogue and accept more products, continue to ensure a reliable quality assurance process and allow future moms access to top products at much lower prices. This month, we have the BabyMoon campaign running, in which we offer an extra 15% off and free shipping. We want to help families save about 80% on childcare articles in a complete cycle, that is, these are the estimated savings when they buy and then resell the products on the platform. On a new “medium” cart that costs 400 euros new, full cycle savings could reach over 300 euros.
Will the method of sale/purchase remain the same? That is, there is a concern with the evaluation of the product and its quality before including the article in the platform, correct? Would you say that product quality is always a guarantee at BabyLoop?
The process remains simple and even more intuitive. With a few clicks and a few photos, you can know how much a product is worth at BabyLoop. Then, simply deliver it to a participating mainland store or request collection at home. We take care of the rest! And yes, of course, quality is our top priority! In these nine months, we have implemented three product-quality levels: As New, Very Good and Good. A product will only be accepted if it meets the quality requirements of one of these levels; otherwise, it is returned to the seller. We have also raised the bar in cleaning, and today, we have three cleaning processes, which include an antibacterial treatment.
For buyers, the process is even simpler. The photos on the site are images of the actual product! That is, you can see exactly what you are buying. However, BabyLoop has a 14-day return policy and offers a one-year warranty on all products. This is what distinguishes us from traditional platforms: quality, reality and reliability.
Carolina, what are the goals and which plans do you have for 2020?
The balance of these nine months has been very positive, and so, we believe it is possible to scale up more and more products and reach new markets by 2020. Our focus will be working on these objectives.
