Walmart is partnering with a e-commerce company in a bid to enter the fashion resale market.
Walmart announced a new partnership with ThredUP in their fashion department on May 27. ThredUP is currently the largest online consignment and thrift store, offering previously owned branded clothing, shoes, handbags and more. This is Walmart’s first step into the resale market.
Denise Incandela, head of fashion e-commerce with Walmart.com, noted in the announcement that thredUP will be joining nearly 1,000 brands in Walmart’s online inventory, including Champion, Levi Strauss and EV1 by Ellen Degeneres.
“We are excited to join forces with Walmart to power a sustainable, secondhand shopping experience unlike any other. From Calvin Klein and Nike to Coach and Michael Kors, this digital partnership enhances Walmart’s fashion offering with fresh brands at amazing prices that their customers will love,” Jenn Volk, director of product management at thredUP, said in a statement.
ThredUP evaluates and selects the pieces allowed on its site, ensuring overall quality and condition. Therefore, only pre-owned garments and shoes deemed “new” or “like new” by the resale company will be available on Walmart.com. In addition, customers will still be given the Walmart benefit of free shipping on orders of $35 or more and free returns to Walmart stores or thredUP. These benefits were not available to customers of thredUP before this partnership.
“This partnership is our latest move to establish Walmart.com as a destination for fashion and offer customers the pre-owned items they might be looking for,” Incandela said in a statement. “We they they’ll be surprised and delighted by what they find, and we’re excited to inspire customers to look and feel their best.”
ThredUP’s resale merchandise will be sold online and not in stores, for the time being.
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