Social shopping, resale drive big retail shifts: Poshmark

03 Mar '20

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

E-commerce transactions are growing at the peer-to-peer level, with 58 per cent of consumers comfortable purchasing items through social media platforms instead of a company's website and 75 per cent comfortable purchasing items directly from people online, according to US firm Poshmark’s second social commerce report ‘2020: The Year of Social Shopping’.

The report by Poshmark, a leading social commerce platform for the next generation of retailers and shoppers, draws on insights from over 8,000 shoppers surveyed across the United States and Canada, in addition to data from Poshmark's 60 million community members, uncovering the impact of social shopping on brand discovery and e-commerce transactions.

Poshmark is among the most popular platforms to purchase from, alongside Instagram and Facebook Marketplace, the report says. The company also announced that over 100 million orders have been placed on the platform to date, underscoring the significance of social commerce and resale in today's retail landscape.

Resale value is increasingly top of mind when shopping. When unable to return an item online, 92 per cent of Poshmark users and 35 per cent of non-users would sell it online. Around three-fourths of Poshmark users think about an item's resale value before purchasing.

Shopping and selling have become more fluid, accelerating the opportunity of a circular economy. Shoppers are turning to platforms like Poshmark to extend the lifecycle of clothing, creating a more sustainable future. From Gen Z to Baby Boomers, second-hand items make up an average of 14 per cent of consumer closets, a press release from the company says citing the report.

Gen Z owns the most resale, fast fashion and luxury products of all generations. Millennial closets are the most diverse, straddling traditional mall and emerging brands. Gen X loves mall brands and Baby Boomers look to value chains more than any other generation to fill their closets.

Gen Z will bring social commerce to the forefront of retail. More so than any other generation, Gen Z takes style cues from social media influencers (34 per cent), celebrities and pop culture icons (37 per cent), and streetwear (38 per cent). The emerging generation already makes up 20 per cent of Poshmark users and one in four new users in 2019.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)

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