Challenges from the Customers´ Point of View

Table 4-3 shows a summary of the responses of Helthjem´s customers.

Table 4-3 Challenges from the Customer Point of View

Company Challenges Helthjem may face with their customers´ CE transition

Bergans Customer Service Costs

Greenphones Rapid Changes Brand Profiling Finn.no Coverage

Efficiency and Predictability Customer Service

Theft

Environmental Challenges Red Cross Costs

Customer Service

Costs

Both Bergans and Red Cross mentioned that they believe the costs of transitioning into a CE will be a challenge for Helthjem. The respondent at Bergans stated: “The biggest challenge in relation to circular services is the huge costs for handling the logistics”. Bergans further argued that the cost of logistics is high and hard to be profitable, as the CE concepts is still in an early stage. They exemplify this through the toll fee they need to pay for both the regular and the return flow. Since Bergans have their manufacturing and production facilities abroad, they face high costs because of these regulations. Additionally, they explained that they want to participate in the transition to a CE, but most of their circular solutions are not yet profitable and therefore they need to continue also selling new products. By the same token, Red Cross mentioned repair as an expensive service. Red Cross also argued that reuse of clothes requires large volumes to be profitable, which is challenging for Helthjem because of their capacity and infrastructure. Another reason is that the users expect the freight to be free, also for the home-deliveries. As pointed out by Bergans:

The standard of people paying to get packages delivered on their doorstep need to be in place as soon as possible to make these services profitable - Bergans

Customer Service and Theft

Customer service was pointed out as a concern for both Bergans and Finn.no. For Bergans this concerned the customer support and the ability to communicate with the consumer.

Bergans emphasized that it is hard to establish a relationship between the consumer and Helthjem due to their deliveries at night. This is in line with Red Cross which argued that it is crucial with consumer contact when delivering unique products, such as when transporting repaired products. However, Red Cross explained that this is less important in the reuse market, such as with their home-collection service. Another issue in relation to the customer support is the safety aspect. Finn.no stated that: “The threat of theft makes it difficult for Helthjem to send expensive products”. As the packages are both delivered and collected from the consumers’ doorsteps, there is a risk for theft. This is a challenge if Helthjem’s customers need to transport high-value products.

Rapid Changes

Greenphones pointed out that Helthjem needs to be equipped for rapid changes in the market with the ability to make quick decisions and possess excess capacity and knowledge. This is

hard since they are owned by a large company such as Schibsted. The respondent at Greenphones further argued that it is easier with start-up companies, as it is easier to receive a more personalized service from them. If Helthjem wants to implement rapid changes, it typically comes all the way up to Schibsted as the owner to approve these changes, which might be a time-consuming process.

Brand Profiling

Greenphones heightened that they do not think Helthjem is leveraging their cooperation with green companies. Today several of their customers focus on circular solutions and sustainability, which should have been more profiled because this will strengthen their brand. Customers care about the environment, and therefore, this is an important piece to profile. Reading their interest in cooperating with Helthjem to adopt a zero-waste strategy in their packaging, the respondent argued:

If they really wanted to focus on us and contribute into a zero-waste strategy, they should invest the money since this is not that much in total. From a market perspective, this is something they really could leverage for their own company - Greenphones

Furthermore, the respondent pointed out that when entering the website of Helthjem, it is difficult to find information regarding their strategy to help save the climate. By this reason, when people visit their website, it seems like they do not focus on CE. If the information regarding their strategies was clear, it may be more attractive for other green companies to cooperate with Helthjem and thereby contribute to more circular services. Therefore, the respondent believed that brand profiling was a challenge for Helthjem.

Coverage, Efficiency and Predictability

Finn.no believed that being able to cover every household all over Norway will be a challenge for Helthjem. The respondent related this to the challenges concerning efficiency and predictability. Thus, Finn.no argued that the time it takes to transport a product to the consumers has a large variation depending on where in Norway they are located which decreases their predictability. They are hoping that this will improve in the future to increase the accessibility to circular services for all consumers in Norway but believes that this will be a challenge for Helthjem.

Environmental Challenges

Even though the respondent at Finn.no wants Helthjem to increase their coverage, it is pointed out that this might bring some environmental challenges. As the accessibility to consumption is increased, so does the environmental impact. As stated by the respondent:

“All parts concerning consume such as transport and buying new product is a challenge for the environment”. Additionally, by making it easier for consumers to return their products, they may purchase and return even more products, thereby doubling the environmental impact from the transport process.