Sustainable retail: Putting the cool into pre-loved

Welcome to the latest sustainability column that takes a look at what retailing is doing to address the issues in its industry. Much of the ongoing focus will be on fashion but not exclusively so.

This month’s column takes a look at how the purchase of second-hand goods is becoming not just a mainstream activity that is undertaken by a growing mix of age groups but is also becoming a cool way to shop.

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It is not long ago that the perception of second-hand goods was so dowdy and fusty that other names such as pre-loved, vintage and pre-owned had to be adopted to make it more palatable. Whatever you want to call it, the practice is now well and truly out of the closet – literally.

ThredUp’s annual Resale Report is forecasting that the global market is set to almost double to a hefty $350 billion by 2027. Online will continue to be the key driver of the trend, with growth of 21% predicted every year over the next five years.? Much of this growth is expected to be driven by younger shoppers. Second-hand is now pretty much ingrained in their shopping behaviours, with 80% considering the resale value of an item before they have even made the purchase.

A particularly buoyant area is second-hand babywear, for obvious reasons, with younger parents very gung-ho in this category. A sizeable 76% of Gen Z parents purchase such items versus a still very healthy 63% of Millennials.

So far so obvious. But what is most noticeable about the second-hand market is how it is increasingly sucking in shoppers of all ages. Speaking at the recent Retail Week Live 2024 Justine Porterie, director of sustainability at Depop, suggested: “There’s a definite shift to second-hand in the mainstream. It’s been triggered by the younger generation who are inspiring other generations. Gen Z’s have been at the core but now that resale is more mainstream and older generations are being inspired. On Depop now we have a trend for Y2K, which is older fashion. It’s not new but it is the real deal.”

?This broadening out of the market has also been seen by Lucy Peacock, head of pre-loved at eBay, who says shoppers up to the age bracket of 55+ are now active on the marketplace and having given it a go once they return to buying more second-hand goods. One of the drivers of growth in the market is the placement of second-hand in new environments. This has clearly been powerful for the likes of Depop with its sellers offering attractively curated mixes of items for sale.

However, this has not been restricted to online because Charity Super.Mkt is using primary physical store locations – in the form of pop-ups - to present a selection of goods for sale from a variety of charities. They are effectively a department store with concessions and it is proving a powerful way to help break the perception of second-hand with traditional high street shoppers.

?Maria Chenworth, co-founder of Charity Super.Mkt, says: “We get charity retail into space where people are not expecting it. At Brent Cross we made a profit overnight. The last pop-up was on Bond Street on Fenwicks ground floor and people flocked to it.” The current Charity Super.Mkt has just opened in Gloucester and will be followed by a return to Brent Cross in April.

Meanwhile, this ongoing move to second-hand and a more sustainable retail industry will no doubt be given additional impetus by potential legislation. We’ve been given a flavour of what could be on the horizon, with a proposed new bill in France that is supported by the majority of ruling MPs. It would impose penalties on fast fashion retailers of up to 50% of the sale price of garments in order to offset their environmental impact.

The business models of the likes of Shein and Temu are clearly in the headlights of both regulators and environmentalists. As such, shoppers will be looking at the increasingly polarised alternatives of buying clothing that is good for the planet and the demonised items that are not.

Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider

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