Foxway believes in working together to shift society away from the endless linear consumption of tech toward a more mindful circular model where devices get the chance for more than one lifecycle. It’s difficult to say where circularity begins, but each part certainly has an equally valuable role.
We’ll explore one option to start your circular tech journey — with a well-integrated trade-in solution. It allows users to exchange their pre-owned devices and get credit toward their new purchases. At the same time, it’s a way for resellers to boost sales by promoting a more sustainable upgrade.
Foxway met with Óttar Örn, CEO of ELKO, to share insights on the successful partnership between the two companies.
Who is ELKO?
As the largest electronics store in Iceland, ELKO offers well-known electronics brands at affordable prices. With years of experience (active since 1998) and a staff of 240 people, they have a presence in 5 locations across the country, plus an online store.
ELKO strives to have the most satisfied customers in the electronics market. This purpose, just like all the major projects of the company, is first and foremost customer-oriented. Having recently ranked 3rd among all stores in the local customer satisfaction index, they are moving closer to the goal of happiest customers each year. ELKO has a franchise agreement with the Norwegian company Elkjøp, which operates around 400 stores in the Nordic countries. Elkjøp is owned by British electronics giant Currys PLC which operates a total of approx. 1,600 stores in the UK, Ireland and Northern Europe. Through joint procurement, better prices are achieved on well-known brands of electrical appliances, which ELKO’s customers benefit from.
Why did ELKO choose Foxway? What made it a successful circular tech partnership?
We chose Foxway in the beginning when our company was making it first steps on the sustainability road. Our partnership started in 2019 as Foxway was making an entrance to the Icelandic market — to my knowledge, Foxway is also the only player here today. We got a good review and recommendations for Foxway from our franchise partner, Elkjøp, and the business proposition was very favorable, both from a sustainability view and a business perspective.
All decisions regarding future projects within the company are compared to our strategy and especially our vision: “the happiest customers in the electronics market”. What they care about, we care about. If we are not furthering our vision, we don’t do the project. So seeing the sustainability factor as the primary force steering our cooperation with Foxway came very naturally.
Óttar Örn, CEO of ELKO
What surprised us the most was how well it was received by our customers from the get-go. What made the greatest impact was not only our customers getting paid for their old devices but customers seeing that they were helping the environment by returning a device.
As we wish to educate our customers to be responsible consumers, Foxway’s trade-in solution has supported our aim well. On the one hand, it has made collecting devices of any value very easy. On the other hand, it is a powerful tool that helps to boost lengthy campaigns which the big brands in the market expect to have regularly.
How easy was it to become a trade-in partner with Foxway?
The onboarding process was very simple on Foxway’s side. The platform was a plug-and-play solution, we never had to wait for feedback and support. It was a bit more challenging on our side as we had to analyze the process in terms of VAT and how to set up the process in our ERP system. But as soon as we had the processes ready, we ran without complications.
As of today, Foxway is operating in nearly 50 countries, and we’re always thrilled to enter new markets together with new partners for our trade-in solutions. ELKO is a good example of a new Foxway partner with clear expectations and a strategic plan for integrating this new service into their customer journey. In the retail environment, sustainability is becoming more important, with customers expecting a circular approach. For our retail partner, this service can boost sales volume and gain customer loyalty.
Holger Föst, Sourcing Director at Foxway
How many devices are traded in through the program?
We’ve had a steady increase in devices through the years. In 2023, we had a 60% increase in number of devices received and 90% in value. Campaigns such as “Get something for nothing” (Fáðu eitthvað fyrir ekkert) played a big part in this growth.
Today, we have about 1 device returned for every 100 Icelanders per year. We’ve set ambitious targets for the year 2030, so reaching higher numbers each year is naturally something we’re striving for.
What is the primary motivator for your customers to opt for device trade-ins?
We have had the most success with focusing on the environmental side — letting customers know that they are helping the planet by returning a device. There we’ve got the most amount through the system.
However, the beauty of the trade-in concept is also that it’s versatile. For some, it’s first and foremost a convenient option to give their idle devices a better use, others use it as a beneficial deal to get a good upgrade. In gaining value, we’ve had the most success in our cooperation with the Samsung trade-in campaign.
How important is sustainability to ELKO?
Sustainability is very important for ELKO — these efforts shape the future for us all.
We have a lot to share in terms of our measurable actions and future ambitions, which we’ve also presented in our sustainability report. Our environmental strategy involves various objectives ranging from sorting waste better and selling more pre-owned products to planting plants in our own “to-be-certified carbon-reducing” forest to offset the carbon footprint of ELKO’s operations.
The International E-waste Day in 2023 and the campaigns around it turned out to be our biggest star. We encouraged citizens to return electronic devices for recycling or trade-in and showed how much value they can hold. Aside from collecting devices, ELKO cooperated with the recycling company Fura and collected cables from customers — more than 500 kg of cables were collected for recycling.
Our efforts also include the partners we work with. We‘ve sent out a sustainability assessment to all suppliers and are working on getting all the results finished.
How well are sustainability incentives received in your customer communication and marketing activities?
The “Get something for nothing” campaign has been a huge success. The number of devices we buy from customers and send to Foxway is increasing every year. The year 2023 was by far the best as ELKO sent over 5000 devices to Foxway. In a country with a population of 383,726 people that’s a remarkable result.
We use sustainability incentives in communication with customers by informing them that we send the pre-owned devices to partners who can either give them a new life or make sure they are recycled responsibly.
Our plans for the future involve putting more emphasis on selling energy-efficient devices and, of course, products from the circular economy.
What are the biggest challenges in reaching your circularity goals?
Our biggest challenge here is to add more categories to the setup. Currently, the setup for smart devices through Foxway is working well, but we are working on adding MDA, AV, and even SDA into the mix that will help us reach these figures, but that is challenging due to the size of our country.
We have an objective to sell at least 10,000 used goods by 2030. Our location, infrastructure, and small size have proven to be the biggest challenges but we’re still striving to reach this goal. For example, we’ve kickstarted initiatives within the company that contribute to the repair process of devices otherwise marked for recycling — to give them another chance.
How has the circularity shift influenced the company culture?
Just by implementing the circular economy principles in ELKO with Foxway’s services made our employees and managers more aware of the all-around e-waste generated by ELKO. Soon after we started to pay more attention to e-waste, how we could create value from it, and how we can reduce our footprint.
This first step with Foxway made us at ELKO aware that we weren’t doing enough and since then we have started many initiatives to do better from an environmental perspective.
We must take responsibility for electronic devices and what happens to them after the first use. By building partnerships that support our aims, we can strengthen the leading voice that guides us all on this journey.
Óttar Örn, CEO of ELKO
Are sustainable solutions a competitive advantage on the market?
We’re not quite there yet today, but it will be highly important 2-3 years from now. Offering sustainable solutions will become a key competitive advantage for businesses.
Companies that have not started their ESG or sustainability journey today will fall behind and lose sales to more sustainable retailers. This will be more and more of a deciding factor for customers. We have also seen this developing fast in the B2B market as more and more sustainability demands are set in bids.
To find the best solution for your company, speak to a Foxway specialist like Holger. As our Sourcing Director, he’s built an efficient and sustainable network that supports the circular economy and considers our collective need to reduce negative environmental impact.
Holger Föst
Sourcing Director
