We met Kewin Charron, head of the Back Market Innovations Laboratory. A true policeman of the quality of the platform, he carries out audits based on mystery orders before advising sellers found at fault, or even sanctioning them in the worst cases.
“Our mantra is to demonstrate that there is no reason to buy new today”, says Kewin Charron, at the very beginning of our meeting in the Back Market premises in Paris. He heads the Bordeaux-based innovation laboratory of the brand founded in 2014, a determining body in the site’s strategy which acts almost as an internal police force with the merchants who sell on the site.
You must understand that Back Market is like any other marketplace, a company specializing in connecting customers and merchants, recovering a commission along the way. This is how she earns her living. So why bother with a lab? The company has actually set itself a somewhat broader mission. “ What we are looking for is to provide a quality product that removes the obstacle that pushes you to buy new. And to achieve this, people need to have confidence”, details Kewin Charron. That’s where he and his team of four come into play.
Between 150 and 200 orders per month
The Lab carries out 150 and 200 mystery orders per month from merchants who sell Tech objects on the site. Two types of profiles are targeted: new merchants, in order to see if their level of quality is acceptable, but also poor performers whose quality score is a little too low, to check.
Kewin Charron and his team will then look to see if the merchants are “in line with our quality charter. For example, we impose battery health above 85%, but also a certain quality in the packaging, throughout the reception process, on the components used…”
For example, at one time “we saw iPhone 12s with… LCD screens”, and not Oled like on the basic models marketed by Apple. A practice now obsolete.
Sanctions?
What if the merchant does not meet expectations? “We are already going to send an audit report to the merchant. It’s a very detailed document where we documented all our tests. Then we will suggest areas for improvement if necessary. » If the situation is really problematic, the platform of course provides for sanctions:“we have several grades basically, but it ranges from the limitation of sales to sometimes outright deregistration”.
The innovation laboratory, a sort of policeman, intervenes in reaction and therefore inevitably a little out of step with the concerns that customers may encounter. To save time, Back Market is also based on a system of algorithms. The idea is simple: the best quality/price score ratio will be highlighted. Clearly, if your quality score, which takes into account speed, defect rate, return rate, is too low, you will be less highlighted on the site.
As for new merchants, they follow a phase of ” on boarding “during which Back Market “limit to a few small sales per day”. The goal is obvious: “If we let a new merchant sell 10,000 products on the first day, it could be risky”smiled Kewin Charron.
Who are the good students of reconditioning?
What is the recipe for a good smartphone to recondition? “ Easily accessible parts at a decent price, without part pairing and above all very well documented », recites Kewin Charron by heart. “ Documentation is what was generally missing until now. I think that all the “self repair programs” like what Google, Apple and Samsung are doing are what the industry needs to move towards. We also have people like Fairphone and Nokia who offer systems that we have to go for.»
Builders are rarely perfect, they often have qualities and faults. Apple is an interesting example: if they have a system of self repair programand a large number of accessible parts, they impose a system of authorized compatible parts. Concretely, if you do not put an official document, there will be a certain number of software blockages, which in no way prevents you from using the smartphone sometimes. Merchants on Back Market are necessarily forced to deal with this and Back Market will therefore ensure that the quality of the parts is at the same level as that of Apple.
Google is also a good student. The Mountain View firmhad the good idea of making its calibration tools available and there is no software lock as important as at Apple“.
Less and less breakdown, but a normal emotion
Before publishing this article, we asked our readers to report on possible problems encountered with Back Market. We collected a dozen testimonials, in which the question of after-sales service often came up. When questioned, Marine Libaud, media relations manager, agreed to respond.
The manager understands well the anger that a breakdown can cause: “We are in a category where, if people have a problem, they no longer have a telephone. We know it’s difficult to go a day without a phone. People are obviously immediately very virulent. Even if the problem is resolved quickly, there are always hiccups. »
Back Market follows this closely with a tool, thedefective rate. It simply measures the number of failures on all open after-sales service tickets. In 2015, when it was created, it rose to 15% depending on the brand, to stand at 4% today.“The defective rate of new is around 3% for reference. »
“It depends on your use”
In addition, after-sales service has been internalized since November 2022. Previously, each merchant managed its own after-sales service, now Back Market takes care of it with the help of a subcontractor.“We realized that tickets processed by us directly had a much better satisfaction rate. »
The brand’s media manager also thinks that it remains “a lot of teaching to do“. On the question of the requirement to have a battery above 85% for example, which some readers have reported to us as being a little low in their eyes, Marine Libaud considers that “it will depend on your use. Our recommendation is 85%, because we consider that it is still in very good condition. But then if you use it crazy, your battery will drop to 80% before 6 months. We then give the possibility of taking a new battery, in partnership with a few reconditioners who change the battery.»
A testimony also focused on a conflict over the guarantee: the customer considered that the breakdown of her smartphone was covered, the seller was not. On this, Back Market kicks in a bit. But the brand still offers another solution called Save. “If at any point it is outside the warranty period, we still offer you at a reduced price to be able to repair the phone, with a price.»