The verdict is in; millennials and its younger siblings from the Gen-Z love‘ re-loved’ clothes. In a recent report released by online thrift shop thredUP, the resale economy is thriving and its main patrons( 41 %) are in-between the ages of 18-24. The study claims that the resale market currently values at US $ 20 billion and will reach US $ 41 billion by 2020. More insights from the research reveal that 1 in 3 women shopped pre-owned clothes in 2017, making the number |
44 million as compared to 35 million in 2016. Compared to basic retail, which is expected to grow at the rate of 2 %, the resale market is slated for a whopping 15 % progression. Currently, in the US market, the main players in reselling are thredUP, The RealReal and Poshmark with Rebagg, Deopop, Tradesy and Grailed following closely behind.
A surprising revelation from the study is the fact that 13 % of thrift shoppers are millionaires and the more obvious expose is that 66 % people opt for thrift to buy brands
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that are out of their affordability range. The report’ s results may come as a bit of a surprise to some as buying pre-owned has always had a stigma attached to it. Whereas shopping vintage is revered, thrift shopping was often seen as cheap, but times are changing. Some 70 % of thredUP’ s shoppers last year had never tried thrift shopping before and 50 % have shifted from buying off-price to thrift. The retailer added that resale doesn’ t just offer the thrill of buying more new fashions at throwaway prices but also has the |
eco-conscious value of not adding waste to the environment.
Apart from the shoppers’ data, thredUP also unveiled the thrift shoppers’ favourite brands that are LulaRoe, Everlane, UGG, TOMS, and The North Face amongst others. The retailer added that brands like FRYE, Lululemon, Helmut Lang, Burberry and Gucci have the highest demand and earning value on their site. The worst brands to invest in being Giorgio Armani, Juicy Couture and Mango.
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No doubts, the arrival of technology has made our lives easier. Capitalising on the influx, retailers across the globe have started focusing more on the technology part, and store automation has emerged as the major focus area for them as they’ re trying to thwart e-retailers like Amazon from dominating the physical retail world with its advanced Go stores. The automation of the retail stores is also aimed to minimise both labour |
costs and shoppers’ inconvenience while waiting for cashiers and the filling of empty shelves.
The use of robots in stores is reportedly under the testing phase to keep an eye if shelves are stocked or not. Various retailers are making efforts to make the use of apps which will notify them about the availability of items in their stores on their smartphones. According to Martin Hitch, Chief Business Officer of Bossa Nova Robotics, a company
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that makes inventory management robots that Walmart and others are testing out, reportedly said that it is an element of mortification as an online retailer is showing them how to do brick and mortar. Notably, Walmart recently opted for drones as well to make deliveries of its products. Well, Amazon Go has already fully automated the checkout process, to enhance the shopping experience of customers at its stores. Before the arrival of |
Amazon Go, other kinds of facilities like self-checkout kiosks were present in the supermarkets earlier as well. Sensors and predictive analytics tools, to better anticipate when more cashiers will be needed, are also being used at retail spaces. So, it is not like that retailers are focusing on this trend now, the only thing is that the agenda has changed, which is now more on making savings and to take on Amazon which is becoming huge in the US.
However, the automation of stores has made the workforces apprehensive about job loss. The World Economic Forum also stated last year that technological advancements would take a toll on around 30 to 50 % of retail jobs across the world. Also, the constant monitoring of customers in stores has also raised concerns over privacy as the retailers get to know more about the shopper’ s behaviour / buying habits as they digitise their locations. It remains to be seen if robots will make it better for the customers to shop at physical stores who are currently used to of human assistance.
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