wallapopleading platform in conscious and human consumptionannounce the launch of its app in Portugal, the company’s next milestone in its expansion strategy in southern Europe. The arrival of the platform in the Portuguese country, which occurs a year after the landing of the brand in Italy, expands its business model based on reuse and the circular economy to the entire Iberian Peninsula.
Wallapop, which will be nine years old in 2022, is the most popular marketplace for reused products in Spain, where 15 million people visit it every month to buy quality objects at competitive prices and sell what they no longer use. The Wallapop user community creates around 100 million ads annually, giving fully functional objects a second life. Since its creation, Wallapop has contributed to innovation in the sector of online classifieds and reuse, and aspires to put technology at the service of a more conscious and human consumption, both locally and through the mediated ecommerce experience of Wallapop Envoys, which allows users complete transactions at a greater distance in complete safety.
The platform, which a year ago embarked on a new phase of internationalization in Italy, has been very well received in the country. Wallapop, which has already accumulated more than 2.4 million downloads, was the most downloaded app for buying and selling reused products in the first half of 2022, and Wallapop Shipments’ monthly transactions with Italy as the country of origin or destination have tripled since January of this year. In parallel, the platform’s consumption model has continued to gain popularity in Spain, where 6 out of 10 Spaniards expect to purchase more reused products than new ones in the next three years.
Promote more conscious consumption
With its arrival in Portugal, Wallapop goes one step further in its ambition to promote more conscious consumption and generate economic opportunities in the current context of inflation. The expansion in this new geography will make it easier for the more than 8 million Portuguese Internet users to obtain additional income from the sale of items they no longer use, extending their useful life, and access quality products at competitive prices, both locally and further afield , via Wallapop Shipments. In addition, they will also be able to access the extensive quality inventory announced in Spain, where they will be able to buy and sell reused products across borders.
Portugal presents strong similarities with Italy and Spain. Among them, the great potential for growth in the use of electronic commerce, where more than 5 million Portuguese already shop online frequentlyand 61% of the younger generation are already considering buying second-hand items. Likewise, the company anticipates that there will be parallels in its international markets in relation to the most popular categories (with a special focus on consumer goods that include household products, electronic devices and articles for children and babies).
Committing to Portugal as Wallapop’s next internationalization milestone will allow us to take another step in building a unique inventory ecosystem in Europe, which makes reused products the favorite purchase option. Our arrival in the Portuguese market will allow us to consolidate this form of consumption in new territories, and at the same time will expand the cross-border inventory available through the platform, improving the experience in Spain and Italy.
Rob Cassedy, CEO of Wallapop.
Wallapop, which closed 2021 with a 65% increase in revenue, has continued to grow in a healthy way in 2022 after the consolidation of trends such as the acceleration of electronic commerce, the current context of inflation or the rise of conscious consumption. During the first half of the year, the company has exceeded its growth forecasts which, in the case of Wallapop Envoys, have meant an increase in revenue of 59% compared to the previous year.