The concept of thrift shopping has gained immense popularity in the past few years as the need for more sustainable and affordable fashion products increased. If you don't know what thrifting is, it is when you buy gently used clothes or accessories from a thrift shop, flea market, or garage sale at a lower or discounted price. We all know that online shopping is on the rise, as more and more people find it more convenient to shop online than go to a retail store due to a wide range of reasons.
While most eCommerce stores sell clothing, a few brands are capitalizing on the concept of thrift, and even you can. Launching an online thrift store can seem daunting and unnecessary in the beginning due to the initial setup cost and time. But both these can be simplified if you are using an online eCommerce platform such as Shopify with affordable plans and easy setup and template options.
Furthermore, starting an online thrift store can attract an audience from all over the world and help you scale up from a small at-home or thrift shop to a global business.
So, are you set to create a thriving online thrift store? This blog will give you the essential tips and insights to get you started. So, here we go.
Outline
- Why Do Customers Love Thrift Store Shopping?
- 7 Tips To Kickstart Your Online Thrift Store And Scale It Up
- 4 Best Online Thrift Stores To Checkout in 2023
- 4 Things To Avoid While Starting An Online Thrift Store
- Conclusion
Why Do Customers Love Thrift Store Shopping?
If you have not heard of a thrift store but are looking to start a trending and in-demand business or are just beginning to consider it a viable business idea, one of the main questions you'll be asked by the people around you is, "Why a thrift store?".
Secondhand apparel sales are expected to grow by 127% by 2026, and this is just the beginning when it comes to the growth of thrift shops. While there are many reasons why customers love thrift shopping, we decided to talk about the most common reasons why a thrift store is loved by customers worldwide.
Unique Finds
Thrift store shopping offers an exciting experience to the customers, as they can find a wide variety of items they generally can't find in a retail store. A thrift store is not restricted to clothes. It could be home decor, watches, shoes, bags, and many other things that are worth a second sale.
Most of the thrift store products are given away as they were not in use, and the owners don't intend to use them any further. So customers can even find a very expensive shoe or a bag at a considerably low rate.
And due to the range of collections a thrift store offers, they expect to find the unexpected, making it a truly one-of-a-kind shopping experience for the customers.
Affordable Prices
When you see a new dress or a shoe in a store with a high price tag, you might just wish for a discount or a sale, and if that happens, you are bound to make that purchase without a blink.
Now picture this but for all the items in a store, at all times! That is a thrift store. Since the thrift store sells products that have been used, they come with an affordable price tag. So, customers can often find high-quality items at a fraction of the cost of buying new ones.
Now, who wouldn't be drawn to that?
Eco-Friendly
Gone are those days when eco-friendliness was just a marketing gimmick for packaging and personal care brands.
People have started taking up sustainability as a priority, and more and more eco-friendly products and alternatives are coming up. Hence, thrift shops are many customers' first choices as they don't cause any additional damage, as reusing old or used items will mean a lesser negative impact on the environment.
Supporting A Good Cause
Some thrift stores are run by non-profit organizations that are raising money for a cause. This means every sale money goes towards supporting a specific need, which is an encouraging factor for many people.
People feel good about their purchases knowing that their money is going towards helping others, and with thrift store shopping, one gets to buy something in return too.
Treasure Hunting
While a few customers go thrift shopping with the hope of finding specific things, others thrift shop for just the thrill of the hunt. Customers enjoy the challenge of finding hidden gems among the racks of clothing and shelves of different items. This makes the overall shopping experience a very fun and exciting one, almost like a treasure hunt.
7 Tips To Kickstart Your Online Thrift Store And Scale It Up
Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in mind to start and scale up your online thrift store like a pro:
Curate A Unique and Attractive Collection of Items
Your online store could offer a wide variety of thrift products, or you could offer specific items to attract an exclusive audience. You offer your customers a unique shopping experience by curating an attractive collection of items.
Eye-catching and affordable products that are not easily found are key to engaging more customers. When you sell rare products, you can price them reasonably and sell products at less or no bargain, as customers would be interested and eager to purchase the products.
Suppose you specialize in vintage clothing or antique home decor pieces from different eras. You can attract customers who are looking for these products all across the globe with your online thrift store and build a loyal customer base.
Offer A Convenient and User-Friendly Online Shopping Experience
A user-friendly shopping experience is a must when it comes to running any online store, and it is no exception with a thrift store. A convenient and easy shopping experience comes with the right website, theme, ease of navigation, checkout process, and many more.
If you are using an eCommerce platform like Shopify paired with a suitable Shopify theme that gives your store a pleasing look with features such as saved shopping carts, wish lists, out-of-stock pop-ups, and a simple checkout process, then your customers will benefit from a pleasant shopping experience which will increase your sales and encourage repeat purchases.
Use High-Quality Photographs and Descriptions
Catchy descriptions and images can have an immense impact on your customers. A product photographed with ample lighting and a good background can push customers to make a purchase.
After all, a product displayed in a good manner is what attracts us to shop from a certain store. This applies to an online thrift store as well, and in this case, striking photographs of your products are used instead of mannequins or display shelves.
A detailed description in combination with this will help your customers make informed decisions and understand every aspect of the product, such as the material used, how many years old, its usage, and many more.
Ensure you take photographs from all angles to satisfy your customers and give them a complete view of what they are buying.
For example, check out this product listing on Poshmark, a popular thrift store. The images are clear, and the listing title summarizes all the necessary information about the product the customer should know. The description summarizes the product condition, size, etc., for the customer to make an informed decision.
Implement An Effective Shipping and Returns Policy
Running an online thrift store involves shipping as you cater to a global audience. Sending packages to any other place, including your local region, will incur a certain cost that the customers will have to pay.
It is very important to let your customers know how much your online thrift store will charge them to reduce the chances of abandoned carts and unsatisfied customers.
You can even consider offering free shipping for orders over a certain amount to incentivize larger purchases. Also, it is necessary to highlight the return policies, such as the return period, condition of the products, etc.
If you don't offer a return on any products, don't forget to highlight this on those specific products to avoid customer anxiety and encourage more purchases.
Leverage Social Media and Other Online Marketing Channels
Social media has the power to influence customers to make impulsive as well as informed purchases. So, leveraging social media and other marketing channels can help persuade people to buy from your online thrift store.
Platforms such as Instagram and Facebook are helping small businesses and online stores flourish by helping them showcase their items and build a following. You can also leverage paid advertisements to target specific audiences and drive traffic to your online thrift store website.
You can also consider influencer marketing as another effective strategy to attract a specific audience and promote your products and store.
Source Unique and High-Quality Items
A great way to ensure you sell high-quality products at affordable prices is by partnering with local suppliers. This way, your acquisition cost can also be minimal.
Connecting with local suppliers can also get you access to local flea markets and first-hand access to products and collections that your customers will love. If you are providing the option for sellers to sell their products online, ensure you have a team of authenticators to inspect the products and authenticate them before reselling.
Implement A Customer Loyalty Program
A customer loyalty program is an easy pathway to gaining repeat purchases and increased customer retention. Implementing a customer loyalty program can give your customers access to exclusive discounts and deals or refer their friends to your store for coupons, etc.
You can also offer a loyalty program where customers earn points for every purchase they make or for every referral, which they can redeem for gift cards, and so on.
4 Best Online Thrift Stores To Checkout In 2023
The Real Real
The Real Real is one of the world's largest online thrift stores that buys and sells designer fashion goods. The in-house team of authenticators ensures that the products are authenticated and consigned before being bought from sellers and sold to customers. The website is easy to use with clear navigation for the wide range of products they offer, making the overall shopping experience convenient.
Bissel Thrift Shop
Bissel is a popular online thrift shop in Canada that sells a wide range of products, such as books, clothes, home decor, games, collectibles, etc., at affordable prices.
All the revenue created from the sale goes to helping people affected by poverty in Edmonton. You can learn more about the contributions, and shop online quite easily. The product images are clear and clicked against a white background for maximum clarity.
Vestiaire Collective
Vestiaire Collective is a one-stop shop to buy and sell used products for men, women, and kids. From luxury bags to designer shoes, you will be able to find everything here at reduced prices.
Due to the large collection of products, the website has a multi-level drop-down menu so you can browse through each category conveniently. The product images are top notch and so is the website's interface.
Luxury Garage Sale
Luxury Garage Sale is a popular Chicago-based online thrift store that sells designer clothes and accessories. The products include second-hand and gently used items such as shoes, bags, clothes, jewelry, and more at extremely reasonable prices. Each product is thoroughly inspected before listing and comes with expert authentication.
The overall web design represents the type of products they sell and gives off a luxury feeling. The navigation is smooth and the checkout process is straightforward with no hiccups whatsoever to be faced while shopping at LGS.
Check out this video for more online thrift stores:
4 Things To Avoid While Starting An Online Thrift Store
Starting an online thrift store comes with certain dos and don'ts. While the dos are easy to spot, store owners generally miss out on the don'ts. So here are a few things to look out for when starting your online thrift store.
Overpricing Items
Online thrift stores are most popular for their affordable options for shoppers. Hence, overpricing your products can have a negative impact on your brand's identity and subsequently affect your sales. Customers come to thrift stores to find affordable items, and if the prices are too high, they may choose to shop elsewhere.
Most often, thrift store customers are the youth who sometimes doesn't earn any income or have just started earning and are looking to purchase good quality clothes and household items at a lower price.
When thrift stores start to overprice their products, these individuals won't be able to afford them, reducing your clientele base massively.
Neglecting The Importance of Quality
The success of an online thrift store depends on various factors, such as the variety of products you sell, their price, shipping, and handling costs, and so on.
And one of the most important factors that can influence your customer's decision to make a purchase from your store is the quality of the thrift products you sell.
Whether you are procuring them from a trusted source or not, it is important to inspect each and every item for damages and defects and highlight them in the product details for maximum transparency and to avoid unhappy customers.
Failing to Understand The Market and Audience
While entering the thrift market, it is important to research and understand the target market. Suppose you want to sell used books and artifacts and want to understand how well the market will respond to this.
You need to tap into the buyer persona and understand how many people are willing to buy second-hand books and items, where they are located, and the best ways to reach them.
In most cases, millennials and Gen Z customers top the audience list. Once you identify your target, maximizing your marketing efforts and sales becomes easy.
Underestimating The Importance of Marketing and Promotion
Marketing is an essential part of your online store's success. Online thrift stores will not sell on their own, and this is a common misconception among people.
You need to get your shop noticed to get to the expected sales or revenue. For this, you need to rely on marketing and promoting your store. Leverage social media ads, email marketing, and influencer collaboration to attract attention to your store.
Conclusion
Taking your thrift store from launch to success comes with a lot of effort, time, and considerable investment. While you have all the resources for a thriving business such as a thrift store, it is necessary to apply the best practices for the best results.
Hope this blog helps you begin your sustainable business journey more effectively and efficiently and start an affordable online thrift store.
