RE-Fashion: (2) RE-USE

Zalando Wardrobe

If there is nothing new in a sale of second-hand clothes, what differentiates Zalando Wardrobe is the technology used that promotes a shift in the customer mindset, as Torben Hansen, VP of Zalando Wardrobe, explains to us.

Traditionally, second hand items have been considered “old”, “dirty” and not comparable to new items. Zalando Wardobe quality checks, start from the analysis of the pictures posted by users that wish to give their clothes away, and culminate to physical checks in the central WH. Zalando effectuates clothes cleaning and washing before selling the items, so they look cool, and there is still a significant discount.

The service from customer side is the following: customers post pictures of the clothes they want to sell, which can be any kind of clothes from a list of brands, even if not previously purchased on Zalando. Zalando Wardrobe gives them a quotation and buy the items, offering shipment for free. Payment is in credits that customer can spend on Zalando. The quality check trough the photo is pretty effective, indeed today they reject a very small proportion of the clothes that are shipped. Rejected clothes can be either returned or donated based on customer preference.

Overall, the meeting at Zalando Wardobe was for the FTS team an insightful example of how the RE-Use concept can be integrated to provide additional and complementary benefits to a fashion e-tailer.