What is Recommerce?

The recommerce market is growing, and fast. But what is recommerce, what is the catalyst for this growth and how can retailers realise the opportunities this brings?

Recommerce is reverse logistics, selling previously owned or new products through an online or physical distribution channel. Clothing, footwear and accessories resale markets were worth between $30 to $40 billion globally in 2020 and are expected to grow by 15% – 20% (CAGR) until 2025, according to Boston Consulting Group data. The group also predicts that second-hand clothing will make up 27% of consumers’ wardrobes by 2023.

The growth of this market is being led by GenZ (16-25 years olds) and their resourceful consumerism and environmental awareness is influencing the behaviours and habits of other generational groups.

Nick Beighton, former CEO at ASOS PLC, explains the power of Gen Z:

“Gen Zs have grown up with a wealth of information at their fingertips which has translated into increasing consumer power to demand transparency from brands and retailers and to hold them accountable for their actions.

“In order to build trust with Gen Z consumers, businesses must be transparent about their sustainability journey and what action they are taking to improve circularity. This should be weaved into all marketing collateral, from pre-purchase through to on-pack messaging.”

Understandably, brands want to be part of the recommerce growth and are weaving circularity into operating models and sales strategies to reduce their environmental impact. With Gen Zs proving so influential to retail, we conducted research with over 1,000 Gen Z consumers to uncover their experiences and expectations when it comes to shopping online to help us uncover how brands and retailers can most effectively package and deliver products for the recommerce generation.

We packaged the findings in our latest report called The Recommerce Generation: How will Gen Z shape the future of packaging.

Download a copy here