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Zara is taking resale to France, but what does it mean for fast fashion’s adoption of secondhand platforms?

The retailer, which already offers the service in the UK, joins Shein, H&M, and Primark in experimenting with resale.
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Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

Do you love shopping at Zara, but just can’t get your head around the waste that fast fashion creates? Well, if you live in France, you’re in luck: Zara customers there will soon be able to sell, repair, or donate their secondhand clothing, the Spanish retailer’s parent, Inditex, has announced.

Per BoF, customers can avail themselves of services through not only the brand’s stores, but also its website and mobile app.

This isn’t Zara’s first resale rodeo. Its secondhand service has been available in the UK since 2022, and is also expected to be introduced in Germany this year.

Just so you know: Zara isn’t the first fast fashion retailer to try its hand at secondhand. Major brands including H&M, Primark, and Pretty Little Thing have all previously launched their own resale platforms.

Even ultra-affordable e-commerce giant Shein debuted a peer-to-peer resale program, Shein Exchange, last year.

While on the surface, the platforms are an attempt to reduce the amount of waste the industry produces, it only makes a difference if the brands can actually commit to cutting down manufacturing and daily product drops, Anand Kumar, fast-fashion analyst at Coresight Research, previously told Retail Brew.

“Overall, fast-fashion companies can recognize resale as a profitable opportunity if they can prioritize quality and longevity, and reduce production,” Kumar said. “Without these meaningful initiatives, fast-fashion entry into resale will be, in several ways, simply a cash grab.”

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

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