Some info on rental offering27 Sep 2022 10:21
In summary the payback is higher than selling outright but it takes 19 months to achieve higher revenue vs 7 months selling outright, hence the bank investment.
Mon, 7th Feb 2022 An affordable and flexible alternative to outright purchase
Originally launched in October 2020, musicMagpie's innovative rental subscription service provides customers with a more affordable and flexible option than an outright purchase or a pay-monthly contract with a mobile network. The device is supplied to the customer at no up-front cost, in return for a monthly payment from as little as £8.99 over 12 months. Once the rental agreement is over, the customer can upgrade to a more recent device, keep the same device and pay less, or cancel the agreement and return the product.
The smartphone service has already attracted c.13,500 active subscribers (up to 30 November 2021) including the first cohort of contract renewals, and its success has prompted musicMagpie to extend into other categories. Games consoles, tablets and MacBooks are all now available to rent, and the Group sees potential to expand into other types of consumer technology in future.
Monthly rental fees start at £8.99 for a refurbished phone, £11.99 for a console, £12.99 for an iPad, and £19.99 for a MacBook. The Group has also recently launched new Apple products onto the musicMagpie Store in the UK, with the latest iPhone 13 available to rent for as little as £31.99 a month.
In addition to the benefit to consumers, for musicMagpie a rental subscription generates recurring revenue for the period of the contract, with the ability to achieve further additional revenue from second and third rental periods of that product, and ultimately a potential sale of the product at the end of its rental life. In the case of a rented smartphone, the Group achieves a higher revenue (after approximately 19 months of subscription) and EBITDA contribution (after approximately 7 months) over the life of that device compared to an outright sale.
Active subscriptions numbers;
31 May 2021: 7,500
31 May 2022: 24,000
Selling used devices should be fairly robust during a recession while the rental service will become increasingly important to profits.
Also worth noting:
"Accordingly, the Group now expects that revenue generated in the second half will show lower growth over the first half than previously expected.." so still growth, just at a lower rates than H1.
"Whilst the Group continues to expect that Black Friday will prove to be a peak trading period, it now believes it is prudent to reduce its expectations for contribution from this period..." - PRUDENT, but it hasnt happened yet.