U.S. fashion retailer Urban Outfitters, Inc. (URBN) has announced to introduce Nuuly Thrift, a resale marketplace launching in Fall 2021 where anyone can buy or sell women's, men's and kids' apparel and accessories. Nuuly Thrift will be a sister platform to Nuuly Rent, a subscription rental service for women’s apparel.
According to the company, Nuuly Thrift isn't only a marketplace for the Urban Outfitters brands – customers will have the opportunity to resell products from any brand. When customers sell an item on Nuuly Thrift, they will have two options: transfer their earnings directly into their bank account, or redeem them for ‘Nuuly Cash,’ which is worth 10% more at Nuuly Thrift and the URBN brands portfolio [for example: if a customer is paid $100 for a dress on Nuuly Thrift, that customer will have the option to convert it to $110 in Nuuly Cash, which can be spent back on Nuuly Thrift, or at Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters, BHLDN or Terrain – online and in stores].
“URBN has been in the vintage renewal business since our founding in 1970. With the launch of Nuuly Thrift, we’re excited for URBN to capitalize on shifting customer behavior and gain market share in the rapidly expanding online resale market,” said Richard A. Hayne, CEO and Chairman, Urban Outfitters, Inc.
URBN sees the resale market as a natural partner to rental and recognizes synergies between both platforms: while Nuuly's end-of-life rental inventory will be sold through Nuuly Thrift, Nuuly Thrift will introduce new customers to Nuuly Rent and vice versa. Nuuly Cash is meant to incentivize customers from both platforms to continue to spend within the secondhand space. According to URBN its customers are very active in the resale market, with three-quarters having made secondhand purchases and nearly half having sold secondhand items in the past year.
“With URBN’s millions of existing customers, our merchandising and creative expertise, our deep technical capability, and the potential for Nuuly Cash to drive incremental purchases at our family of brands, we believe the stage is set to capitalize on a very large resale market opportunity,” says David Hayne, Chief Technology Officer, URBN, and Nuuly President.
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