How to equip yourself sustainably? This question, which torments all French households at a time of climate transition and soaring prices, is also at the heart of the latest Fnac-Darty after-sales service barometer, published this Tuesday. The document, available on the distributor’s website, is presented as a “decision support tool” for consumers. “It gives the general public the opportunity, before purchasing, to find out about the level of repairability and reliability of products from more than 150 brands, summarized by a durability score,” explains Fnac-Darty. This various information is obtained on the basis of data collected by the group’s repairers.
Concretely, the distributor sifted through its entire catalog, made up of more than 100 product families, to measure their reliability and repairability. Reliability is calculated on the basis of failures observed on a product sold. Repairability is analyzed based on the repairs actually carried out by the technicians and the duration of availability of spare parts. The group also measured the average cost of these parts relative to the repaired product, and surveyed buyers on the reasons for their purchase.
The first lesson of the study is optimistic: the French repair more than a few years ago. In 2018, when the first barometer was published, Fnac-Darty customers mainly cited “replacement due to breakdown” as the reason for their purchase of household appliances. This is still the case, but less: the share of products replaced due to a breakdown is decreasing. For example, 87% of French people declared in 2018 that they had purchased a new washing machine due to a breakdown of their old product compared to “only” 77% in 2023, a drop of 10 points. The drop is even more significant on certain products, like laptops and telephones, where the “breakdown” reason falls by 36 and 21 points respectively.
For Régis Koenig, this observation, in the midst of inflation, is not due to chance. “We observe, for example, that over ten years, it is always more economical to repair your washing machine rather than renew it after 6 years, even for a more efficient washing machine. Being able to benefit from a repair, if it is economical, can benefit the planet and the wallet,” says the manager. Because the price of the repair compared to the purchase of a new product is the first obstacle to repair mentioned by customers. This financial barrier explains the gap between the repairability index (established by the manufacturers) and the actual repairability noted by Darty after-sales service: often, the parts are too expensive compared to the price of the repaired product, which deters customers. This is particularly the case for smartphones or TVs, for which the parts replacement cost-sales price ratio exceeds 29%.
To reduce obstacles to repair, in 2020 the group launched its “unlimited” repair and assistance subscription, Darty Max, which now has one million subscribers. Subscribers, after the product warranty, repair 4.4 times more than non-subscribers. This also applies to small household appliances, often considered “irreparable”: while the majority of buyers hardly repair any more from the second year onwards, Dartymax subscribers continue repairs until the seventh year, 20 times more than simple clients.
“Repairing is good, but preventing a product from breaking down is even better,” admits Régis Koenig. The manager therefore invites customers to maintain their products more regularly, to increase their durability. But, as the government prepares to launch its sustainability index on February 1, 2024, the distributor is also inviting manufacturers to design “more reliable” products. Because not all references are exemplary. If certain product families have increased their sustainability index, such as connected watches (19 points) or stick vacuum cleaners (13 points), others have seen their durability decrease, like true wireless headphones (-14 points). ) or even straighteners (-2 points). The most sustainable products continue to be bagless vacuum cleaners, porthole washing machines and bottom fridge freezers. Some firms also stand out for their ability to last over time: the distributor cites Liebherr, Bosch, Miele, Moulinex, and Tefal in particular.