Urban Outfitters to launch resale marketplace, Nuuly Thrift

US-based lifestyle retailer, Urban Outfitters is planning to expand its footprint in the red-hot second-hand apparel market by launching its own resale marketplace, Nuuly Thrift. Consumers will be able to purchase and sell women’s, men’s, and children’s clothes and accessories when the platform launches in the autumn.

Customers who sell things on Nuuly Thrift have the option of transferring their profits to their bank account or redeeming them for Nuuly Cash, which is worth 10% more at Nuuly Thrift and the URBN family of businesses.

The development comes after H&M, the Swedish fashion giant, announced only a few weeks ago that it will launch its own resale fashion site, H&M Rewear, in Canada next month. Nuuly Thrift, similar to Rewear, will allow customers to resale goods from any brand, not only Urban Outfitters.

Nuuly Thrift will be a sibling platform to Nuuly Rent, Urban Outfitters’ subscription rental business for women’s clothing that started in 2019.

The company said the two platforms will go hand-in-hand, with Nuuly’s end-of-life rental inventory will be offered through Nuuly Thrift, while each platform will promote new consumers to the other.

Urban Outfitters CEO and chairman, Richard A. Hayne, said that URBN has been in the vintage rejuvenation business since its beginning in 1970. They’re delighted for URBN to capitalize on altering customer behavior and acquire market share in the fast-increasing online resale sector with the introduction of Nuuly Thrift.

According to Urban Outfitters, three-quarters of its consumers have purchased used things in the last year, and almost half have sold them.

David Hayne, chief technology officer of Urban Outfitters, Inc. and Nuuly president, said that they believe the stage is set to capitalize on a very large resale market opportunity. With URBN’s millions of existing customers, their merchandising and creative expertise, their deep technical capability, and the potential for Nuuly Cash to drive incremental purchases at their family of brands, they believe the stage is set to capitalize on a very large resale market opportunity.