Retail giant Amazon has opened its first physical Second Chance Store, offering customers the opportunity to get as much as 50% off a wide range of “quality returned products”.
The central London store, which is open for the next two weeks, allows customers to shop more sustainably and save money as they browse in-person from a wide range of returned, refurbished or open box products.
It is Amazon’s latest move to boost the profile of its year-round online circular economy programme Second Chance, which sold more than four million second-hand products in the UK last year, with customers making savings of more than £100 million.
Amazon UK country manager John Boumphrey said second-hand shopping on Amazon was now a billion-pound business across UK and Europe, with UK sales increasing by more than 15% in the first nine months of 2023.
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“Customers are telling us that they’re shopping second hand items to save money in the ongoing cost of living crisis and because they want to shop more sustainably,” said Boumphrey.
“Amazon is committed to giving more products a second chance – both through helping customers shop pre-loved, and through programmes to recycle, trade-in and repair products, contributing to a more circular economy.”
Amazon has donated more than 4,000 products to be sold in the Second Chance Store, with all proceeds going to Barnardo’s to support their work with children and young people.
Product donations form an important part of Amazon’s circular economy programme. This year alone, it has facilitated the donation of more than 13 million products to more than 2,000 UK charities as it helps its independent sellers donate their overstock or returned items automatically.
In 2022, Amazon expanded its partnership with WRAP and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to support a global circular economy for products.
The global retail and tech company also supports the development of a sorting technology to improve plastic packaging recycling through its involvement in the Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0, driven by AIM, European Brands Association and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste.
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Where is the store in London