1 in 5 brands has launched its resale program , what’s holding the others back?

As consumption decelerates, regulatory pressure intensifies, and inventories accumulate, second-hand is increasingly emerging as a strategic lever for margin protection and value creation.

Yet despite these converging pressures, adoption remains limited.

To understand why, we will first examine the four misconceptions that continue to hold brands back from resale adoption (I), before outlining the operational and economic drivers that make resale a scalable growth opportunity for early adopters (II).

I. The 4 Misconceptions Holding Brands Back from Resale Adoption

1. An economic potential still poorly understood
2. Some brands are stuck on the myth of cannibalization
3. Infrastructure challenges are overestimated
4. Persistent Cultural, Political, and Psychological Barriers

II. The 4 Key Insights Shared by Brands That Have Already Scaled Their Resale Strategy

1. They gained new clients by integrating digital and CRM ecosystem
2. They have industrialized the operations of take-back, reconditioning, and listing
3. They steer performance with indicators on margin and turnover
4. A forward-looking understanding of an inevitable regulatory and industrial shift
5. A Governance Gap Only the CDO Can Fill

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The majority of fashion brands still haven't deployed their take-back/resale program and here are what is holding them back:

I. The 4 Misconceptions Holding Brands Back from Resale Adoption

1. An economic potential still poorly understood

Many brands still see second-hand as a cost center, covering logistics, sorting, reconditioning, and customer service, rather than as a source of margin. Yet in reality:

• 60% higher Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) among customers who use the take-back service.
• 90% sell-through rate on returned items, generating 5–10% incremental revenue from second-hand resale.
• Up to 10 percentage points of additional net margin per order when resale is managed directly by the brand.

Profitability is real, but often poorly measured. Until resale is fully integrated into the overall P&L, it remains perceived as a peripheral activity rather than a core business line.

2. Some brands are stuck on the myth of cannibalization

The fear that second-hand will eat into new product sales is the most common objection, but the data shows the opposite:

• 95% of customers who resell an item to the brand immediately purchase a new product using their voucher.
• 50% higher average basket value is generated by each voucher-driven order.
• 70% of second-hand buyers are new customers, typically younger and more price-sensitive, who might never have purchased at full price.

Resale expands the customer base and drives new sales rather than cannibalizing them. The real risk is letting marketplaces capture the value and customer relationship — every item sold outside the brand ecosystem represents lost margin.

3. Infrastructure challenges are overestimated

Many brands assume implementing a resale solution is complex, but leading players have shown it can be streamlined. By integrating specialized resale platforms, they automate key processes; product authentication, reconditioning, pricing, and listing. This industrialized approach reduces errors turning resale into a profitable business line, while safeguarding product quality and the brand's reputation.

4. Persistent cultural and psychological barriers

The industry remains attached to the symbolic value of newness. Yet consumers tell a very different story: the second-hand market is set to reach $360 billion by 2030, growing three times faster than first-hand products.

There is a strong generational shift that only 20% of brands have understood. Today, customers are looking for history, meaning, and traceability, not just "newness."

By clinging to outdated assumptions, many brands have stopped listening to what their own customers are clearly signaling.

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II. The 4 key insights shared by brands that have already scaled their resale strategy

1. Full integration into their digital and CRM ecosystem

These brands have embedded resale directly into their e-commerce journeys, CRM workflows, and loyalty strategies. By leveraging the CRM, they not only retain existing customers but also capture new, younger audiences, turning resale into a powerful customer-acquisition engine integrated seamlessly into their overall brand experience.

2. Industrialized externalized operations

From take-back to sorting, reconditioning, and listing, every step is standardized and automated. Leading brands have chosen externalized technology, logistics, and infrastructure solutions that are simple to use and easy to implement, allowing for rapid onboarding. The result is a scalable, predictable, and profitable resale operation without the complexity of building in-house systems.

3. Mastering resale marketing and KPIs to capture younger customers

Pioneer brands don't just track resale through financial metrics, they know how to market it effectively. By positioning resale as a core part of their brand narrative and customer experience, they reach a younger, expanding customer base that traditional channels struggle to convert. Their marketing and communication strategy is built for longevity, enabling them to stay relevant, adapt to shifting expectations, and turn resale into a sustainable growth lever.

4. A forward-looking understanding of an inevitable regulatory and industrial shift

These brands have anticipated the major pivot Europe is making toward traceability and circularity. With CSRD, the Digital Product Passport, and the AGEC law, compliance will no longer rely on declarations, it will require operational proof. Take-back and resale programs provide exactly that, while creating measurable economic value. In the years ahead, a brand's performance will be judged as much by its ability to circulate its products as by its ability to sell new ones.

This transition, from a symbolic project to a digitally managed, measurable model, turns circularity into a competitive lever. Resale is no longer just a communication topic, it's a business strategy. It's no longer just a CSR issue, but a digital strategy. In three years, the difference between brands that took the turn and those that missed it will no longer be in their reputation, but in the share of revenue coming from integrated resale. The fashion brands that master the loop will be not only more sustainable, but more profitable.

5. A governance gap only the CDO can fill

A resale program sits at the intersection of retail, digital, logistics, CRM, and sustainability. Without a clearly identified sponsor, it remains without a true owner, and struggles to move beyond the pilot stage.

Yet the Chief Digital Officer is the only executive with the full set of levers needed to turn resale into a scalable, profitable business line:

• Data, to measure product and customer performance;
• E-commerce, to integrate resale seamlessly into the customer journey;
• Technology, to orchestrate logistics partners and ensure smooth system integration.

Without clear governance, resale remains a side project.

But when the CDO takes ownership, it becomes a core pillar of the digital strategy, measurable, operationalized, and capable of generating a new revenue stream.

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