Rent the Runway’s deal with Amazon is a five-alarm fire for brands such as Rag & Bone and Tory Burch. RTR sells pre-owned branded fashion and its own branded pieces on Amazon at significant discounts. RTR started with selling via Thredup the Sacks Off Fifth and now Amazon. Their stock was rewarded, but this is short term, but it’s hard not to see the desperation with long-term concerns for the company.

@Sucharita Kodali, principal analyst at Forrester, said in a Sourcing Journal piece the new relationship suggests RTR isn’t “operating from a position of strength” and has “basically thrown in the towel.” She compared the deal to the “end game in chess.” “You’re about to lose… so you’re giving up your rook as a last-ditch effort to delay…the end of the game.” I share these quotes because Sucharita nailed them.

This makes fantastic sense for Amazon, which now sells $7,150 Chanel handbags and $12,500 Rolex watches to their customers, even though Chanel or Rolex would never directly choose to sell on Amazon. They continue to provide more brands and value to their customers. With more customer traffic, they gain negotiating power over others such as RTR and What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA), who suppliers the Chanel handbags and $545 Hermès scarves.

So why did RTR do the deal? As a recent public company, they are fighting to prove they can build a profitable business that captures the customer shift from ownership to access. And there is a massive shift taking place, but it needs to be faster to satisfy public investor expectations. We will see whether these moves toward resale will distract RTR from its core rental platform or provide the life support that the business needs for customers to catch up. I sadly expect it will be the first.

And what does this mean for brands who now find themselves with more items on Amazon? More headwind. As if this economic market and the changing customer weren’t challenging enough, brands increasingly compete with discounted items as others profit and degrade their hard-earned brand equity. This latest move is another example of how brands must control their destiny–offering resale models directly and working with channel partners with aligned interests.

In other news, this past week, we went from 120 resale programs to 121, as we can add YETI to the list of brands with owned resale channels with the launch of YETI RESCUES. YETI is the latest in a series of impressive launches for Arrive, including Burton and Eddie Bauer. While the assortment appears limited to ‘open box’ items, the online storefront is clean, on-brand, and easy to shop. While it’s a fine starting point, I expect this to be a jumping-off point for YETI and expect them to expand assortment and ideally trade in over the coming months.

On the marketplace front, consolidation continues as South Korean internet player Naver invested $80.7M to become the largest stakeholder in Wallapop, a mobile-based European platform for buying and selling second-hand products. This follows the acquisition of Poshmark last year as Naver establishes a strong global P2P portfolio that connects the markets in North America, Europe, Japan and Korea. Given these platforms are building customer brand and loyalty, this is a play for more global market coverage with the ability to leverage P2P technology at a greater scale.

Additionally, Sellier Knightsbridge has acquired the luxury resale platform Worn, growing its business by a reported 25%. Both acquisitions speak to the maturing marketplace space and the need for scale. It’s only mid-January! and I expect to see far more consolidation in the coming months.

While luxury marketplaces consolidate, more luxury players are predicted to enter with direct offerings, as covered in Retail Brew. The article summarized it’s 2023 predictions as another massive growth year for resale; however, profits will be elusive. While I don’t disagree, I see this year far more about scale for brands. For brands to scale any line of business as they fight for their fair share of the growing market, they must live up to the customer experience and make money. This is where profit becomes critical to scaling resale.

The So What

1. Brands need to control their destiny in the secondhand market, so their items don’t end up being sold in channels that devalue the brand.
2. What’s good for Amazon may not be good for your brand