Walmart is the latest major retailer to announce a partnership with ThredUp, the online fashion resale marketplace. Along with other big names like Gap and JC Penney, this allows Walmart to dive into a revenue stream that is predicted to get big. Really big.
A CivicScience survey of more than 2,000 U.S. adults shows interest in Walmart’s used offerings at 17%.
Walmart favorables are much more likely than Target and Amazon favorables to express interest but competitors should take note that interest is still strong among their customer bases.
Walmart’s resale partnership draws the most interest from Millennials but not by a very large margin. The greatest difference in interest was revealed through income: U.S. adults making under $50K a year were 45% more likely than those making $100K or more a year to express interest.
Parents were also very interested in Walmart’s coming resale marketplace (20% compared to 12% of non-parents). Unsurprising as we know kids grow too fast to warrant new Crew Cuts outfits each season. At least for most people.
CivicScience data suggests a general coronavirus effect on the resale concept as well. Interest in Walmart’s used clothing arm is highest among people whose job or pay has been negatively affected by the outbreak.
Saving money is clearly a huge driver of interest in Walmart’s used goods.
The Environment and Fashion
In addition to securing excellent deals on clothing and accessories, U.S. adults showed other reasons to favor Walmart’s break into the used space. The first was personal style.
A fashion marketplace like ThredUp (and partnerships with major retailers) is a little different than thrift or consignment stores. Fashion resale marketplaces tend to focus on popular brands and usually only accept and resell items that are currently in vogue (manufactured and sold within the last few years). Individuals who consider themselves to be “fashion leaders” were extremely interested in Walmart’s used items. Not only that but people who simply said fashion trends impact what they wear in general were also very interested in the option to shop Walmart’s used merchandise.
The other additional factor to interest was environmental. One of ThredUp’s core values is to reduce waste generated by discarded clothing, some of which is perfectly wearable but ends up in a landfill rather than someone’s closet. CivicScience data suggest a relationship between eco-friendly beliefs systems and interest in Walmart’s used merchandise. People who frequently try to adjust their lifestyles to help the environment were definitely interested in buying used from Walmart.
Whether looking to save money, the environment, or your wardrobe, a number of driving factors create a hefty consumer base for Walmart as well as other retailers getting into fashion resale.