Online resale needs to replicate the customer experience (CX) offered by websites selling new items if it is to continue to succeed as a sector – and more needs to be done to break down the perceived barriers to buying preloved.
They were key messages highlighted by Thrift Plus senior commercial manager, Molly Scoular-Sutton, and Back Market UK general manager, Katy Medlock, at The Delivery Conference in London on 6 February.
Talking as part of a panel debate, these circular economy advocates described how growing numbers of people are buying pre-loved items from their platforms for reasons of affordability and sustainability – but to keep customers coming back, it’s crucial the online CX remains smooth and “just like buying new”.
“If we don’t make this experience just like buying new – from pre-sales, split payments, reassurance around trust and quality, through to the actual delivery experience – we won’t win,” explained Medlock.
There is a localisation strategy that needs to be at play, too, she argued. Whereas in France, rapid speed of delivery is not widely sought after, getting it next day “is the expectation in the UK”, she noted.
In 2022, Back Market – which sells second-hand and refurbished electricals items, such as smartphones online – brought its CX and aftercare services in house. Medlock said the results have been “incredible”, with more repeat buyers using the platform and trust in the service growing.
“With many marketplaces when you have a problem with your order you are going directly to the seller, but with Back Market you’re coming to us and we’re handling that for you,” she commented.
In another example of making the experience “just like buying new”, Medlock said it’s crucial re-commerce platforms continue to find blockers to purchasing and “deep dive on getting a solution”. For Back Market, consumer concern over the battery life of refurbished smartphones was previously one such barrier to purchase, but by offering new batteries alongside refurbished goods, it drove sales.
“Within a couple of months, 14% were adding that as an attachment to their phone [purchase],” she explained.
“We saw that as 14% who have now been brought over to refurbished electronics.”
Scoular-Sutton suggested that trust is the “biggest issue” halting people from buying through re-commerce platforms, meaning it is important to highlight how, often, there are actually very few differences between purchasing pre-loved and buying new fashion.
“We break it down to say it’s the same expectations, the same customer service, the same delivery that you get when buying new, but you get a better deal and you’re making a sustainable choice,” she said.
The senior commercial manager also called re-commerce “a huge opportunity for retailers”, adding that circa 40% of Thrift Plus’s incoming supply is from retailers – be it imperfect returns or end-of-line stock.
“We’d sell it on commission, and imperfect returns sell so well – [they’re] some of our best sellers.”
She added that retailers have millions of garments they are, often, paying to be incinerated when actually that could be another revenue stream.
From a consumer perspective, Scoular-Sutton thinks the quality of the second-hand goods sold by Thrift Plus is often so good – for instance, a superfluous button is missing on a dress – there is no reason why people shouldn’t use re-commerce sites more regularly.
“If I can buy imperfect returns from Zara or Cos, for example, and it’s 50% less and it’s the same item [you would otherwise] buy from a first-hand store and you’re getting all those same experience points, why wouldn’t you do it?” she asked.
“It feels like what everyone should be doing. That’s what we are trying to do – make second hand the only choice people will make.”
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
