What to Know About Target’s Upcoming Resale Pilot With ThredUp
Target is the next big-box retailer to enter resale — teaming up with ThredUp.
The retailer is piloting ThredUp’s Resale-as-a-Service model, joining the ranks of Walmart, Adidas, Madewell and Michael Stars whose programs are also powered by the reseller.
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Target’s resale marketplace is currently undergoing beta testing and is available online at Target.thredup.com.
The 400,000-piece assortment includes a wide range of Target’s own brands (including Cat & Jack, Universal Thread, A New Day) as well as national labels including J. Crew and Lululemon, among others. The offering spans women’s and kids’ apparel and accessories. Items are anywhere from 75 percent to 90 percent off retail value.
A curation of premium, luxury and designer brands will also be available through the broader ThredUp assortment.
In an all-encompassing bid for sustainability, Target swept aisles with its zero-waste messaging in March, including its “Target Zero” label as a visual cue for sustainability props. The company set science-based targets for emissions reductions across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions in 2019. Along with that, Target is a member of the Business Ambition for 1.5-degrees Celsius, a commitment under the Science Based Targets Initiative for companies limiting their carbon footprint.
In ThredUp’s March earnings call, chief executive officer and cofounder James Reinhart described the new suite of offerings.
“With RaaS, brands and retailers are empowered to deliver quality and seamless resale experiences to their customers across three main service modules: our Clean Out service, our cash-out marketplace and our full-service resale shops. This suite of offerings is called “Resale 360,” and our new core offering [which Target is taking advantage of] now allows brands to get started in resale for free, in some cases within 30 days,” he said.
Earlier this year, ThredUp, in its ongoing mission to improve fashion’s impact appointed a head of public policy and sustainability, Seth Levey, to advocate for circularity as regulators look to clamp down on fashion’s greenwashing.
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