Subscribe to refurbished or new household products

AtEase is the name of Electrolux's new subscription-based product service, which is part of the company's efforts to reduce electronic waste and contribute to the circular economy. The service allows consumers to subscribe to a refurbished or new product.

Electrolux says AtEase is an all-inclusive service that covers everything needed to keep your appliance running, including proactive maintenance, automatic deliveries of accessories and support. The product is also replaced within three days if a fault occurs during the subscription, and every product returned to Electrolux is refurbished for reuse or used to give life to new appliances by donating its parts.

“If the product is too damaged or worn out to be refurbished, we can reuse parts such as circuit boards, rubber bumpers or casings to extend the life of other products. In fact, 75 percent of the parts we use when refurbishing a robot vacuum cleaner are harvested from an end-of-life product,” says James Ostridge, Product as a Service Director, Electrolux.

Subscription services today and tomorrow

Electrolux launched a pilot service in 2019 which offered Swedish consumers a subscription to the Pure i9 robot vacuum cleaner, and since July 2022, Electrolux has offered landlords in Sweden a similar appliance-as-a-service program for appliance installation, maintenance and repair, extending product life and reducing electronic waste.

The company has also launched a similar subscription service for consumers in Singapore in 2022, offering product rental, installation, repair and recycling.

The products currently offered through AtEase include robotic vacuum cleaners and air purifiers but additional products, including kitchen and clothing care products, will be included in the service over time.

The service can be confusing

Electrolux is currently the only company with a subscription service like this on the Swedish market, but according to APPLiA's survey of members, it may become available to more suppliers and brands in the near future.

– It is an exciting service and a step in the right direction for the industry. Although we do not have anything similar at present, we are looking at how a subscription service can be applied to, for example, carbon filters or similar, says Ulrika Theander, CEO of Smeg Nordic.

– We don't have anything similar planned in the near future, but we are following developments with great interest. It is a sensible alternative for consumers and is well-timed, says Jhonny Bergman, sales manager at BSH Home Appliances AB.

BSH Home Appliances AB has today servedStone Blue Movement available for the Dutch and German markets.

Text: Ola Larsson

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