You can subscribe to car rental services, furniture and household machines, so why not baby gear too? It's possible with Parently. No hassle, no storage and you contribute to a circular economy.
This year more than any other people are placing greater emphasis on changing their behaviours and having a greater awareness of their consumption habits by reducing waste and making sustainable consumption their new normal. 2020 forced us to make many changes, which has already positively benefited the world. As parents, we see no better reason for creating a sustainable future to provide a planet that our children and their children can live happily into old age.
New baby gear for an average family results in a Co2 emission of more than 400kg. (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute).
Parently’s vision is to educate and inspire parents and be part of the change towards a more circular lifestyle within baby products. But it doesn’t just need to stop there. There are all kinds of services available to support everyone in their efforts to live more sustainably. We want to enable parents to make smart choices easier and with satisfaction by sharing best practises and partnering with others committed to change through circularity.
Your own company often starts with your own experience. The same goes for David Knutsson, Founder and CEO and his wife and co-founder Rebecca. Pregnant with their first child, they wondered what services were available to rent rather than buy hugely expensive baby things. A quick search revealed there were none, so the couple took the matter into their own hands.
“Even with two children, renting through this model is cheaper than buying,”
David quit his job as a management consultant, and together with Rebecca they hired a third co-founder COO Pehr Gårlin, a friend and ex-colleague, and they started the business. Parents can subscribe to baby gear for about 20 percent of the new product value. “Even with two children, renting through this model is cheaper than buying,” David says. There are flexible subscription terms for all products or bundles ranging from 0-24 months which can be extended until they are no longer needed. After the return, a quality, safety check and cleaning follow and they are rented out again.
The 'Circulant' strives for freedom, experiences and access to solutions rather than consumption of things.
Circulant: A person who acts and consumes based on the circular economy, i.e. to gain access to a products function not necessarily by owning but through sharing and renting. A person who ensures that each product has a long life thanks to being cared for, repaired and reused in different ways.
With Parently, they focus on a range people from those who have busy jobs and do not want to buy everything new, to those who have less budget for new and many who want to consume less and lower their carbon footprint. “Sustainability is a trend. People are eating less meat and want less stuff (*65% of Swede's think that they own too much stuff). The Circulant's who have children have more need for freedom and experiences than things. They are more likely to choose to live smaller, so they have less space to store baby gear. Moreover, couples are having fewer children. Gone are the days of having three or four children, that is no longer the case for many people.’
*YouGov 2018
Your baby product needs, frequently change as your baby grows. Choosing and buying strollers, baby carriers, car seats, cots, and more is an expensive and time-consuming challenge, and sometimes the equipment is only used a few months. Some products that were suitable when your baby was a newborn will quickly become outdated as they get bigger. The constant need to research and shop for new or used products can be overwhelming, as can the cost of buying them.
Many parents Parently spoke to found that having to spend vast sums of money on products used for a short period of time, they are then presented with the added hassle of having to either store, sell, give away or somehow dispose of them. Parently takes the inconvenience out of having to continually keep on top of your baby’s ever-changing product needs. With their subscription service, you can be assured that they will provide you with high-quality products for each stage of your baby's growth and development.
Parently take care of cleaning, safety checking, refurbishment, reverse logistics, and products’ redistribution. They deliver directly to your door without unnecessary packaging and take any unwanted products away. There are no hidden costs to worry about. They carefully select premium products from the world's leading baby brands to suit your and your babies needs. Their subscriptions are fully flexible, fully insured and affordable, and they are always on-hand to help and advise you with all your needs.
“Large companies are often internally divided when it comes to new revenue streams that affect current business ways. Some say 'you should never do that', while others see the benefits of innovation and a trend in the market that they can respond to.”
At the moment, David, Rebecca and Pehr are still working with manufacturers to adopt different business models; from a linear to circular. In the long term, the intention is for the brands to offer their products as a service through the platform, retain ownership of their products, and receive part of the recurring revenue per customer. Of course, as with any new business model, there come challenges, and the biggest one for them is to change both the brands and consumers mindset. “Large companies are often internally divided when it comes to new revenue streams that affect current business ways. Some say 'you should never do that', while others see the benefits of innovation and a trend in the market that they can respond to.”
The business model also changes when it comes to rental. Pre-financing is a significant hurdle; it involves a substantial investment that will be recouped over a relatively long time. At the moment, it is mainly large companies that can handle this. Banks do not yet have adequate structures. You need people who believe in this, and we have several people who do and are working towards securing more.
Team Parently are convinced that a subscription model is more lucrative in the long term than sales. “If companies keep ownership of their products, they start earning on how often they can be rented out. It is then no longer about producing large quantities, but developing products that last longer, are easy to maintain and clean. We would love to see the raw materials of such a product reused in a new product after use.”
Interested in adopting a circular business model or becoming an investor? Get in touch with Parently at www.parently.se
