What Is Recommerce? Walmart Gets Into The Resale Business, Partnering With ThredUP

Walmart is partnering with thredUP to break into the resale market and expand the number of brands it has available to consumers. The Walmart resale platform opened for business Wednesday with nearly 750,000 preowned items, ranging from clothing for women and children to footwear and accessories, including handbags from such brands as Coach, Nordstrom and Michael Kors.

“Items have been carefully evaluated and selected by thredUP for sale based on their overall quality and condition. Only preowned garments and shoes deemed ‘new’ or ‘like new’ by thredUP are available on Walmart.com,” Denise Incandela, head of fashion for Walmart U.S. eCommerce, said in announcing the platform.

EConsultancy.com notes resale is nothing new, saying consumers long have embraced charity resale shops and eBay as a way to bag a bargain.

Interest in second-hand luxury items has been growing and has been rebranded as “recommerce.” Walmart is not the first traditional department store to take that route. Neiman Marcus also entered the arena, albeit at a higher price point, with its purchase of Fashionphile last year and growth of the luxury resale market has been pegged at 12% to $24 billion annually.

“The circular economy is another driver of the luxury resale growth, fueled, in part, by younger affluent generations and their desire for more sustainability,” Luxe Digital said, adding, “Most luxury brands have yet to capitalise on the booming resale market. Luxury brands have been hesitant to encourage resale by fear of cannibalizing sales of new products and diluting the exclusivity of their brands.”

Walmart has been expanding its offerings and currently carried nearly 1,000 brands online – both brand names and in-house labels.

“We know that customers, especially millennials, are interested in shopping resale clothing. In fact, according to thredUP’s upcoming 2020 annual resale report, 70% of consumers have bought or are now willing to buy second hand,” Incandela said in explaining why Walmart has decided to get into the resale business.

“This digital partnership enhances Walmart’s fashion offering with fresh brands at amazing prices that their customers will love,” said Jenn Volk, director of product management at thredUp.

ThredUP acquires inventory by sending out “clean out” kits that then get mailed back to the site. People sending merchandise get paid once an item sells, with bonuses paid for specific brands including Athleta, Banana Republic and Abercrombie & Fitch.

Items are inspected for wear, damage and alterations, professionally photographed, listed with detailed descriptions and carefully packaged and shipped to buyers.

The company says it has “upcycled” 100 million items to-date, the equivalent of taking 48 million cars off the road for a day, saving enough electricity to light the Eiffel Tower for 340 years or saving 6 billion gallons of water.