The secondary, or second hand, market is growing. Goodwill and second hand furniture and clothing shops have been around for some time, while online services like Poshmark and ThredUp have gained popularity over the past few years. Many consumers are finding value in reselling their gently used clothes to others, with the opportunity to make a few bucks along the way. And for those shopping on the secondary market, the opportunity to find brand name items at significant discounts is very enticing.
And the market is growing.
After a full year of lockdown, many of us are finding our clothes aren’t quite fitting the same or we have realized we have a lot of clothes (or other items) we just don’t need anymore. But if the items are in good condition, we don’t want to just donate them.
Well, retailers have noticed and are now jumping into this secondary market, with Lululemon being the latest example – providing a marketplace for shoppers to buy and sell used clothing.
As the old saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. We have all heard it, but do you know who said that? I didn’t, until today.
Well, that quote is attributed to Yotam Ottolenghi, and the full line is “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, and the by-product from one food can be perfect for making another.”
And speaking of a second hand market and food…Kevin Coupe just shared a story this morning about a new mobile app called Too Good To Go. The app allows restaurants to create “surprise bags” for customers of food that hasn’t been sold to patrons but for whatever reason isn’t appropriate for food banks. What a smart idea and a great way to eliminate “waste” that could easily be used for something else.
Not all second hand stories are positive though.
Right now, dog shelters are being overrun with “pandemic dogs” being returned in record numbers – as many dog owners realize they weren’t ready for the commitment. Many Goodwill locations and second hand furniture stores won’t accept donations anymore, as their inventory is too high. Even junk removal services are backlogged with rising demand.
In what might be the most extreme case, just this past weekend China was trying to donate 21 tons of rocket debris to one lucky nation. Relieved to see that it landed in the Indian Ocean far away from land and people, but with something like 2,033 rocket bodies currently in Earth’s orbit maybe it’s just a matter of time before this is an issue again. Is there a 1-800-SPACE-JUNK?
The bottom line is that the second hand market, which was already growing, is now exploding – and it is impacting all types of products, retail channels and services. In the short term, it’s going to be the companies that figure out solutions that are going to make the most impact.
It’s not about eliminating waste, it’s not about green packaging and recyclable containers anymore. For a brand like Lululemon, it’s about helping solve the problem of overfull closets and drawers. On the flip side, it’s could also be about giving consumers a chance to own high end brand items without having to pay that full retail price.
But let’s be honest here, it’s also a chance for a retailer to make margin on the same product twice. They can see how much money is being spent on the secondary market, and they want in. Who can blame them?
What industry do you think will be next? Where is the next greatest need? That’s what we are talking about at RetailWit HQ today.
And here are the top stories from last week that made our shortlist:
“Do you Yahoo?” apparently Verizon doesn’t (anymore) – After struggling to dent the digital advertising duopoly of Facebook and Google, Verizon calls it quits and sells off its media business (for a $3.8B loss).
Amazon says its ad-supported video reaches 120 million+ viewers a month
Meanwhile, Amazon announces it’s ad-supported video reaches more than 120 million viewers a month, up from 20 million in 2020 (a 600% increase). Facebook and Google certainly took note of that.
Report: The US Now Has More Video Streaming Subscriptions Than People
Per Ampere’s estimates, in Q1 2021 there were 1.03 OTT subscriptions per person in the US, an almost 50% increase over the 0.7 subscriptions per person during the year-earlier period.
Amazon’s physical store sales drop despite booming first quarter
Amazon’s physical store sales are still a drag on what was an amazing quarter. Likely there are several factors at play, including how sales that are delivered out of Whole Foods are classified and that the ”just walk out” technology is still relatively nascent and hasn’t reached economies of scale.
Kellogg CEO says snacking is speeding up, fueling company’s sales growth
Finally someone addressing the real COVID “19”, the 19 or so pounds we all gained last year. Kellogg is seeing snacking accelerate as snacking habits developed during the pandemic aren’t going away. Kellogg saw revenue of its snacking division rise 3.5% last quarter.
General Mills’ John Haugen on backing challenger brands as Covid-19 upends consumer habits
Haugen says the outlook is something of “a mixed bag” for challenger brands in the US, especially for those in the early days of their business.
Only 4 in 10 Believe Name Brand Products Are Better Quality Than Private Label
Speaking of brands, does this surprise anyone?
These Are the Ad Types Millennials Trust the Most
It’s not surprising the ads Millennials trust the least are on social media, with 39% saying social media ads are trustworthy. What was interesting was that “old school” AM/FM radio still leads the pack – we didn’t realize Millennials even knew how to find those channels.
Anheuser-Busch InBev stock rises as brewer picks an insider as its next CEO
As ‘retooling season’ continues, Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito will step down, replaced by Michel Doukeris, who is the current CEO of NA AB InBev They also reported first-quarter earnings, topping Wall Street’s estimates despite lockdowns outside of the United States; overall sales up +17.2%, volume up 13.3%.
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