In France, Vinted has given rise to a new habit among private individuals by enabling anyone to resell their second-hand products on its platform. The platform is positioned as a marketplace where sellers put their unwanted clothes up for sale, enabling consumers to make eco-responsible purchases at low prices.
Vinted has thus succeeded in rapidly capturing a strong audience, particularly among the new generation, who are adopting the second-hand principle 2.5 times faster than other age groups. This market is estimated to be worth over 1 billion euros (source IFM), and is taking the same path as that of unsold products, with platforms that enable companies to promote their growth by reducing their discontinued products.
As the statistics show, this market will almost certainly overtake that of Fast-Fashion within the next few years. Here again, e-commerce is a major player, but not the only one. Buying second-hand means indirectly entering into the lives, choices and tastes of others, and this act is part of the need to belong to a "community" in terms of consumption and lifestyle.
These models force all players to reflect on the subject of the second life of products, in order to put in place strategies adapted to consumer needs.
A growing awareness on the part of retailers
Extending the life of their products and integrating this new trend into their business model to turn it into a growth driver: this is the strategy that many retailers have embarked upon in order to adapt to new consumer expectations and engage in more eco-responsible actions, thus creating a circular economy.
A second-hand product, which by definition is a product that has been produced once and consumed at least twice, not only has an ecological dimension. In fact, buying a second-hand product - that is, a garment of higher quality than Fast-Fashion, more original than current offerings, and at a lower price - shows a change in buying habits, with greater "discernment" and the ability to distance oneself from the product's re-use. There's also a playful dimension to this type of purchase, which shouldn't be overlooked: rummaging through thrift shops for really cheap bargains, going to garage sales to find the "super second-hand" item. And don't forget that second-hand clothes are often undamaged, or even almost as good as new, and that the second-hand offer has multiplied and diversified.
"Most of the products sold on pre-owned luxury platforms are of high quality, with 62% unworn or lightly used" (source BCG Group).
The dazzling success of Vinted, back Market and Remade has helped to accelerate this mode of consumption, but is not always welcomed by brands, as it prevents them from having a hand in the product's second life, and cannibalizes sales on their site or in stores. This has prompted a number of retailers to find a solution to regain control over the sale of their second-hand products.
Launch of their own pre-owned offer
This is the case, for example, of Camaieu, which launched its own clothing resale platform in 2019 after realizing that 800,000 pieces of its brand were being posted on Vinted.
They were supported by the start-up Place2Swap, which offers web-based solutions to retailers to open up to the second-hand market. This is also the case for Bocage, IDKids (Okaidi), Sezanne and Galerie Lafayette with Good Dressing, which enables individuals to carry out their transactions in-store, with the aim of obtaining a voucher.
Advantages of managing the second life of your products
The benefits of this type of solution are numerous:
- Offer your customers a C2C marketplace dedicated to second-hand products, accessible from your own e-commerce site.
- Limit the cost of product returns by offering your customers the opportunity to re-sell their products on your C2C marketplace.
- Committing to eco-responsible action
- Reduce the number of products destroyed
This last point is more topical than ever. The investments required to implement this strategy for second-hand products can be substantial, and today's market clearly lacks solutions adapted to small and medium-sized businesses.
The impact of a lack of solution or awareness is enormous, with over 620 million returns and unsold goods destroyed every year.
Everyone remembers the Amazon destruction affair, which destroyed over three million unsold products in France in 2018. Faced with this waste, Internet users launched a petition calling for a ban on the practice.
Since then, Jeff Bezos' company has set up a donation program for third-party sellers who store their products in Amazon warehouses, enabling the sellers concerned to donate the stock they wish to get rid of. These unsold and used products are then passed on to charities.
Note that in France, the circular economy law will come into force in 2022 and will prohibitbrands from throwing away or burning their used products.
So it's vital for you, retailers or e-merchants, to anticipate and implement solutions like those offered by Dropery, which enable you to easily manage and sell your second-hand and unsold products.
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