Interview With Founder Of Bundles

Some of you may recall the recent post published about the pay-as-you-use washing machine by a Dutch company called Bundles. Mr Marcel Peters founder of Bundles, shared during an interview with us some resourceful information about his views on future trends and the new roles products will play in peoples lives.

What inspired you to think of a pay-as-you-use concept and give you the confidence required to proceed with commercializing this product?

I worked for 10 years at the largest Dutch Utility on energy efficiency services and learned that at the moment of buying products customers are not willing to pay for energy efficiency. I also saw the piles of wasted appliances and read articles on planned obsolescence. Understanding the possibilities of the internet of things I started searching for ways to offer a product as a service that would both create energy efficiency and lower the waste. Market research from Miele on desire vs purchase of their products gave me the confidence to start commercializing my service.

Do you believe that more and more people are moving away from an ownership lifestyle to a leasing lifestyle?

Owning implies that you’re responsible for managing the product. I believe that customers want to use products including the services that make the products more valuable to them. They might have bought or financed the product, but they outsource (part of) the management of it. So it’s not about leasing (financing), but it’s about using the product as a service. Why? Because it creates more value, amongst others piece of mind. One can focus on what they’re good at and often that is not managing the lifetime value of the things they use or own.

What other types of domestic appliances or equipment could you see adopting the same approach as the pay-as-you-use washing machine?

One should search for appliances where the lifetime costs of using them stem for a large part from the consumables they use and where good use or maintenance can extend the lifetime/productivity of the appliance. So beside whitegoods (tumble dryer, dishwasher, oven, fridge) one can also think of lighting appliances, boilers, air conditioners, gardening machines or even cars and sunshades.

In your opinion what would you say is the most innovative product that has been launched into the market in the last decade?

An innovative product changes the way customers live and what they do. By far, mobile internet devices like Smartphones and Tablets are in that sense the most innovative products that were launched in the last decade. You cannot imagine life without them anymore. After one more decade customers will not know anymore what it would be like to buy appliances without the services around them. Manuals won’t exist anymore. 

The continuous adaptation to consumer preferences and circumstances is making company's roles more challenging. It is company's like Bundles who have adopted a formula for success which partly includes, embracing change and acting as a environmentally responsible entity. We look forward to witnessing more innovative start-ups by Mr. Marcel Peters in the near future.