China’s Online Fashion Recommerce Market—Part 1: The Next Frontier for E-Commerce

Executive Summary

• China’s online luxury fashion recommerce market is in a nascent phase—with a penetration rate of less than 5% compared to 10%–15% in the US—and is growing rapidly.
• Established e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba and 58.com dominate the online recommerce market in China. They are all-in-one platforms that offer a wide range of product categories including fashion. The platforms are typically horizontally integrated, combining payment, community and marketing features. Growth is being further fueled by an increasing number of startups and the significant funds being raised.
• Young millennials and Generation Zers are driving the growth of China’s fashion recommerce market. Younger consumers are keen for options that offer a better price-quality value proposition and are willing to shrug off concerns about the hygiene of pre-owned clothing that previous generations harbored.
• Recommerce platforms for both fashion items and general merchandise, have deployed tactics such as live broadcasting by cewebrities, collaborating with brands, using big data analytics, opening physical showrooms and providing value-added services.