BUYBUY
WHITEPAPER
Scaling up on circularity
in fashion and lifestyle
Get started in growing your brand
when reselling returned items
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
2
What is recommerce? Why does your
brand grow when reselling returned items?
How do you get started?
Recommerce is the reselling of used or returned damaged products. By doing so, fashion
and lifestyle brands extend the life of goods and avoid the creation of waste, which is
crucial in the circular economy. But what exactly is recommerce, what are its benefits,
and how do you get started? This whitepaper explores the answers to these questions
and more.
Content
What is recommerce?
PAGE 3
Why should every fashion and lifestyle brand consider recommerce?
PAGE 5
What are the benefits of recommerce?
PAGE 9
How do you get started with recommerce?
PAGE 11
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
Consumer electronics
such as smartphones,
tablets and laptops
Fashion and
lifestyle
Books and music
Gold and silver
jewellery
and watches
Furniture
Musical
instruments
Games
3
What is recommerce?
Recommerce is the reselling of used
goods. This also includes damaged returns
that are otherwise unsellable without
intervention.
Reselling isn’t new – we are aware of the
second-hand market from charity shops
and consignment stores. In the early
2000s, reselling became digital, with
websites such as Marktplaats.nl, eBay,
Tweedehands.be, Craigslist and others
appearing online. Thanks to the growth of
online resale platforms in the mid 2010s,
the term ‘recommerce’ was born.
These platforms like Tradesy, Twice,
ThredUP and Vinted have taken the sale
of used items to amoreprofessional level.
With the existing and growing number
of reseller platforms and with brands
looking to resell items, the market has
seen and continues to see growth. Brands
in the fashion and lifestyle space should
take note as their products make up the
majority of this recommercegrowth.
Recommerce happens regularly for these products:
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
2015
158
196
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030
0
USD 50 bn
USD 100 bn
USD 150 bn
USD 200 bn
123
121
66
25
Oine
Online
Clothing
41%
Books
33%
Electronics
30%
Furniture
24%
Sporting
goods
22%
Jewellery
23%
Watches
22%
Tools and
home
care items
21%
Exercise
equipment
20%
Bikes
16%
Musical
instruments
14%
Cars
13%
4
There has been a shift in brands’ and
customers’ expectations and comforts
with reselling. Operations to resell
products at scale have had to be
developed, technologies have had to
evolve to create an inviting customer
experience, and, finally, brands have had
to recognise the opportunity to invest in
this new business model.
Value of online and oine resale markets in the United States from 2015 to 2021,
with a forecast up to 2030 in USD billion
1
Most popular second-hand products bought and sold online in the United States
in 2021 by percentage of respondents
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
Buying products from more
sustainable fashion brands
Using their
clothes longer
Buying and selling
used clothing
5
Why should every fashion and lifestyle
brand consider recommerce?
Ten years ago, it was almost unthinkable
that recommerce would be at the
forefront for fashion and lifestyle brands.
However, there are now major market
forces at play, influencing brands to look
at extending the life of their products
through adopting a recommerce strategy.
We take a look at four areas of influence –
sustainability, customers, market growth
and legislation.
More and more consumers want fashion
and lifestyle brands to become more
sustainable. They demand that brands
reduce their negative impact on the
environment or even make that impact
apositive one. They want solutions to the
5.8 million tons of textiles that are thrown
away by European consumers every
year – three-quarters of which are being
dumped.
3
Moreover, people have become more
concerned about how clothing is
produced. Now, more than ever before,
people are deciding where to buy fashion
based on sustainability, with 67% of
fashion consumers considering the
use of sustainable materials to be an
important purchasing factor and 63%
abrand’s promotion of sustainability
in the same way.
4
Consumers are
increasingly favouring sustainable brands
and switching to those that respect ethical
and social values. Those consumers who
are concerned about sustainability issues
are even willing to spend 15% more on
sustainable options.
5
Consumers can support sustainable fashion by:
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
%
50%
Aordability and value
Variety of choice and
uniqueness
Sustainability
Thrill of the hunt
40%
40%
35%
6
Brands that take responsibility find that
they are reaching an audience. Danish
affordable luxury brand GANNI is one
of them. GANNI chose Bleckmann as
its logistics partner for all its operations
in Europe and sustainability and
responsibility are the guiding principles in
this new partnership.
6
Recommerce is a clear, solution-
oriented answer to the ever-growing
group of consumers who want to live
and buy more sustainably. The reselling
of an item addresses two environmental
impact problems – the first is being
able to generate revenue from existing
products and the second is extending
product life. The goal of both is to reduce
overproducing and to use new raw
materials.
Consumers themselves are changing their
behaviour – they are not only turning
towards sustainable products, but are
also increasingly buying second-hand.
In this way, they are eectively changing
their purchasing behaviour to reduce their
carbon footprint. Considering that the
maximum lifespan of a fashion item is four
to five years, each individual generates
an average of 90 to 100 tons of waste in
their lifetime.
7
Customers are also gravitating towards
second-hand options because they help
a growing group of consumers tap into
aunique style. Finding a style is one of the
primary motivating factors why consumers
buy second-hand and crafting an outward
expression via clothes has never been
easier. The wide variety of brands and
styles on the second-hand market allows
customers to tap into decades of dierent
styles, colours and seasons to select what
speaks to them. Brands that become
active in recommerce increase their ability
to oer more items to more customers.
Drivers of second-hand consumption worldwide
in2022 by percentage of respondents
8
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
Second-hand
Rental
Brand stores oine
Brand stores online
Online multibrand retail
Oine multibrand retail
Outlets oine
Marketplaces
Online outlets
Subscription
2020
2023
21%
27%
17%
17%
14%
12%
13%
13%
13%
11%
10%
8%
10%
8%
5%
5%
3%
2%
1%
1%
31%
44%
27%
17%
26%
37%
Gen Z
Millennials Others
Buying
Selling
7
Whether it’s for style reasons or
aresponse to the environmental threat
to our planet, the recommerce market
is growing and cannot be ignored. The
second-hand market accounted for
USD96 billion worldwide in 2021 and
rose by more than 20% to USD 119 billion
a year later. Significant further growth is
likely in the coming years, with the market
expected to be valued by as much as
USD218 billion by 2026.
9
The second-
hand market is therefore anticipated to
double within five years.
Researchers calculated that the share
of second-hand clothing in people’s
wardrobes will rise to about 27% in 2023.
Fashion purchases of consumers in selected countries
in 2020, with a forecast for 2023, by channel and
percentage of respondents
10
Percentage of consumers who have bought or sold second-hand goods in the past 12months
11
Younger generations such as
millennials and Gen Z
are most likely to buy and sell
second-hand.
12
Consumers in North America and
Europe are also more likely to own
second-hand items than those in
Asia or Latin America.
13
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
0
USD 10 bn
USD 20 bn
USD 30 bn
USD 40 bn
USD 50 bn
2015
26
28
31
51
2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 20262012 2013 2014
11
0
Thrift and donations
Resale
8
Those who do not launch recommerce
activities are therefore missing out on
apromising market. Researchers expect
sales of USD 51 billion in this resale
market by 2026.
Brands must respond to changing
consumer behaviour and accept that with
improvements in awareness, convenience
and demand, resale is here to stay.
European and national legislation is
increasingly pushing companies to
promote circularity. The Extended
Producer Responsibility (EPR) directive
from the European Union is a key
development as it will provide the most
radical and far-reaching legislation for the
textile sector.
The EPR directive will require textile
companies to sort and prepare clothing
before recycling, pay disposal or recycling
fees, and set up deposit and take-back
schemes. This is currently already in place
in France, with five other countries aiming
to implement EPR in the next two years.
Those brands who want to wait and see
or don’t think recommerce is a good fit
for them or their customers will have
no choice. This is because brands will be
responsible for the products they make
throughout their entire lifecycle.
Second-hand apparel market value worldwide from 2012 to 2021, with a forecast until 2026,
by segment, in USD billion
14
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
Equivalent to 1,140 Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas
94.6 billion litres of water
Equivalent to 905 times the weight of the Statue of Liberty in New York
203.7 million kilograms of waste
Equivalent to the amount of energy the Eiel Tower would consume in 141 years
11 billion kWh
9
What are the benefits of recommerce?
There are significant benefits to investing in recommerce. Recommerce can provide
solutions to problems created by an unsustainable business model by lowering the
environmental impact of carbon and waste, engaging customers better, reducing costs
and generating new revenue.
Become more sustainable. Moving from a linear to a circular business model
is much more sustainable. This is because you move away from simply
using and manufacturing from raw materials, which leads to waste. Through
acircular process, your brand is able to lower the environmental impact by
leveraging materials that extend the life of your products. After all, reselling
an existing item requires less energy, water and raw materials. Furthermore,
arecommerce product avoids creating additional CO that producing a new
one would generate.
Reduce waste. Items that are usually discarded because they need repairing,
are dirty or simply because someone returned them all get a second life. They
no longer end up in landfills but instead in the wardrobe of a happy consumer.
According to research, 62% of used clothing and textiles end up in household
waste – reusing these items can result in environmental impact that is 70
times lower than when producing new clothing.
16
How much can we save in one year if everyone buys a single used item instead
ofanewone?
15
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
10
Improve customer loyalty. Sustainability binds brands and their customers
more tightly together. Recommerce enables people to shop online while
simultaneously making sustainable choices. Consumers like brands that are
willing to address climate change – 73% of millennials even say they would be
willing to pay more for sustainable brands.
17
New customers will discover your
brand thanks to the sustainable options you oer them.
Generate additional sales. You expand the market you operate in with the
growing second-hand market, which is estimated to be valued at USD 218 billion
by 2026, expanding three times faster than the global apparel market overall.
18
If you gain a foothold in that market, you will generate additional sales thanks to
new consumers and re-engagement with former or existing customers.
Recover or lower costs. Today, returned items are often a large cost for your
company – in 2021 alone, returns cost retailers a staggering USD 218billion.
19
It costs money to have items returned, processed, refunded and stored or
destroyed. If you leverage operations for recommerce into your returns
process, more products are likely to be sold rather than discarded.
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
11
How do you get started with recommerce?
There are several steps that always need
to happen before you can embark on the
recommerce journey and you don’t have to
take them alone. Growing into recommerce
is something that can be done through
collaboration.
Recommerce is a lot more complex than
e-commerce, where items arrive in bulk in the
warehouse, are of good quality and are handled
according to standardised processes.
So how do you approach this challenge?
Ask your partners about the
recommerce options they have.
Alot of people in your sector have
already embraced recommerce.
Can you take advantage of their
solutions? For example, you can ask your
logistics partner how they can unburden you.
Perhaps they are already helping other brands
with recommerce today.
Your logistics partner could also help to collect
returned and used items, wash and repair
clothing and accessories, assess quality, and
relabel and repackage items, ultimately enabling
their resale.
Discover the possibilities in the Moving Forward
in 2021 blog by Nicole Bassett, Circularity Lead
at Bleckmann and The Renewal Workshop®
co-founder, and the Leading Circular 2021:
Discover the Power of Renewal report.
Take inspiration from other fashion and lifestyle
brands. Many big brands are already involved
in recommerce. For example, just think of
the famous bargain corner in
IKEA. Coolblue also has the
‘second chance’ category,
Bol.com has ‘return deals’
and every Belgian JBC store
has a collection box for used
clothing, giving it a second life.
Furthermore, clothing companies such as
Patagonia, Lululemon, Coyuchi and Velocio have
started oering resale options. Their customers
can buy used items through their own platforms,
providing them with additional benefits
or coupons when they return old
products.
Choose the recommerce approach
that fits you most. Where do you
already sell your products? Leverage
your stores or a branded resale site. After
all, as a retailer, you should always ask yourself
where your target audience is hanging
out. That’s the place where you
need to be.
Think about how you will reward
customers who bring in quality
items that are resalable.
Pre-plan your financials so you are
prepared to pay for your items to be returned.
Ideas of engagement can include vouchers
that allow customers to purchase new or used
products from your online shop and tickets
for a concert. Find out what encourages your
customers to become active in your recommerce
strategy. That way, you can oer every customer
the opportunity to make sustainable choices.
We wish you every success in setting up your recommerce. Be sure to get in touch with your
Bleckmann contact person if you have more questions or if you would like any further advice.
Scaling up on circularity in fashion and lifestyle
12
Conclusion
This whitepaper gives you an overview of the history of recommerce, drivers for
brands, and the shift in consumer behaviour towards second-hand purchases and
sales. It shows how the entire fashion and lifestyle sector can achieve greater
sustainability through the strategic adoption of recommerce.
The fashion and lifestyle sector no longer wants to be an environmental problem.
More and more brands want to be part of the solution.
Recommerce is not only an exciting opportunity to expand your current business. It is
also a highly suitable strategy to become a more sustainable brand and appeal to new
generations. Moreover, recommerce is a doable and practically feasible solution.
References:
1 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1275339/resale-market-value-
online-oine/
2 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1271826/online-second-hand-
products-united-states/
3 https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/
latest-trend-keeps-clothes-out-landfill#:~:text=Of%20the%205.8%20
million%20tonnes,buried%20in%20landfill%20every%20minute.
4 https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/survey-
consumer-sentiment-on-sustainability-in-fashion
5 https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/in-search-of-
fashions-sustainability-seekers
6 https://press.bleckmann.com/ganni-chose-bleckmann-as-the-new-
logistics-partner-for-its-growth
7 https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/transmogrifying-to-sustain-
stimulating-potency/255579
8 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1235030/secondhand-
consumption-reasons-worldwide/
9 https://www.statista.com/statistics/826162/apparel-resale-market-
value-worldwide/?locale=en
10 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1111117/channel-share-purchases-of-
consumers/?locale=en
11 https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/the-impact-of-secondhand-
market-on-fashion-retailers
12 https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/the-impact-of-secondhand-
market-on-fashion-retailers
13 https://www.statista.com/study/116165/secondhand-apparel/
14 https://www.statista.com/statistics/1008524/secondhand-apparel-
market-value-by-segment-worldwide/?locale=en
15 https://cf-assets-tup.thredup.com/resale_report/2019/thredUP-
resaleReport2019.pdf
16 https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/textile-reuse-70-times-better-than-
the-production-of-new-garments/
17 https://theroundup.org/sustainable-fashion-statistics/
18 https://www.thredup.com/resale/#size-and-impact
19 https://robosize.com/blog/how-reduce-returns-ecommerce/
www.bleckmann.com
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@bleckmann_logistics
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