'Re-commerce' is Remaking Retail

Americans seem to love high-end, used merchandise. Now big merchants do, too

- KERRIANNE RENZULLI

AMERICANS ARE SCOOPING UP secondhand items at a record pace, thanks to a surge in digital resale platforms like Poshmark, Depop, thredUP and The RealReal. Now more traditional retailers want in on the action.

This year alone, Americans will spend almost $179 billion on secondhand goods, up 96 percent from 2015, according to research from Mercari and GlobalData. By 2030, those firms contend, that number will nearly double to $354 billion-a growth rate 3.2 times that of the retail sector as a whole. And it's not just a small segment driving the pre-used market: Three quarters of us, the Mercari/GlobalData research shows, bought at least one secondhand item last year.

Those numbers are only part of the reason well-known name-brand retailers are now diving into the "new-to-you" business. This embrace of secondhand offers them access to new customers, perhaps a hedge against inflation and green credibility.

"Brands see this wave of e-commerce, or secondhand sales, as an opportunity similar to what happened with the rise of e-commerce," says Nellie Cohen, who previously directed Patagonia's re-commerce program and now runs her own sustainability consulting firm, Baleen."Retail execs can see that at any time there are 15,000 of their items for sale on eBay,” Cohen adds. “They can see the dollar signs and want to capture this part of the customer journey."

Indeed they can. Six in 10retailers already offer secondhand or are seriously considering it, research conducted by thredUP and GlobalData found. More than 40 percent of retail executives predict resale will become an important part of their business within the next five years. But for a third of retail leaders, adopting a resale program has become "table stakes."In other words: the bare minimum.