Apparel Online Bangladesh Magazine May Issue 2019 | Page 68

WORLD WRAP
Sustainability consciousness propels growth
in ‘Second-hand’ Apparel Retail Industry
T
he second-hand apparel retail
industry is booming rapidly
and is expected to surpass the fast-
fashion industry in the coming few
years. In the present age, when the
consumers are seeking variety and
value, second-hand, subscription
and rental are the top three fastest-
growing retail categories. A recent
report by thredUP, an online resale
shopping platform, with the research
and data from GlobalData, a third-
party research and analytics firm,
shows that the second-hand industry
– currently worth US $ 24 billion – is
expected to double in the next five
years to US $ 51 billion.
ESSENTIALS
The resale industry
has attracted all
the age groups,
but millennials and
Gen Z thrive the
most, especially
women over 65
and between the
age groups of
18 and 24.
“The resale customer is no longer
somebody else’s customer, rather
they are everybody’s customer. Mass
market or luxury, if people can find a
high-quality product at much cheaper
rate, they’ll unabashedly choose a
used product. As the line between new
and used apparel blurs for consumers,
a powerful transformation in retail
will unfold,” the report claims. The
growth in the resale market is majorly
from the online resale sector. And
while the traditional frugality store
market is growing by 8 per cent
annually, the online resale market
is marching upward more than four
times faster at 35 per cent a year,
and which is 17 times faster than
the broader apparel market overall.
Simultaneously, over the past three
years, resale has grown 21 times
faster than apparel retail. As a result,
even traditional retailers have started
embracing second-hand apparels.
Marching upward
The resale industry has attracted all
the age groups, but millennials and
Gen Z thrive the most, especially
women over 65 and between 18 and
24 age groups. Both the groups are
motivated by the savings but the
younger group is almost 2.5 times
quicker than other age groups and
may be influenced by environmental
consciousness while shopping for
second-hand clothes. Also, the stigma
associated with the used clothes has
disappeared and a growing number
of shoppers are now enthusiastic
Second-hand market will reach US $ 51 billion in 5 years
Total second-hand apparel market to double in
5 years with resale sector driving the growth 1
to buy second-hand apparels. More
than one in every three Gen Z will
buy second-hand clothing in 2019.
Overall, 64 per cent of women have
committed that they’re willing to buy
used apparels, shoes and accessories,
compared to 45 per cent in 2016.
The report also shows that more than
half of these shoppers have shopped
second-hand in the past one year and
will be shopping in future as well.
Over 40 per cent of consumers also
confessed that they consider the resale
cost of an item before purchasing
something new. The shoppers with
the highest likelihood to shop second-
hand are those with income above
US $ 1,25,000. Seventy-seven per cent
of thredUP’s customers are working
professionals and 71 per cent own their
home. These customers are twice likely
to shop second-hand online than opting
to buy new products online. Apart from
this, there are other reasons for the
recent rise of resale apparel business.
One is the environmental benefits and
the other is the desire for frequent
turnover of wardrobes, especially
among the Instagram generation. Like
thredUP lists 30,000 new items every
single day, which are 150 times more
than H&M.
“Compared to the overall apparel
market, resale’s growth has been
phenomenal. As the market uniquely
meets consumers’ preference for
variety, value and sustainability, we
expect the high growth to continue,”
stated Neil Saunders, GlobalData
Managing Director & Lead Market
Analyst for thredUP’s Resale Report.
With the robust growth, almost 9
in 10 retail executives desire to get
into the resale apparel business by
2020. Over 96 per cent of senior retail
executives are willing to advance their
company’s circular fashion efforts by
the next year. As these senior retail
executives believe the market has a
great potential to boost revenue, site
traffic, along with customer loyalty
68 Apparel Online Bangladesh | MAY 2019 | www.apparelresources.com