The fastest growing apparel reseller in Europe is looking to bring its game to the U.S. market.
This, as Vinted is expanding beyond its base in Lithuania, after successfully building out its brand across several of Europe’s largest markets where it has quietly become the region’s leading player in the nascent category, the Financial Times (FT) reported Sunday (Nov. 27).
“What we see as the challenge is to convert people to a mindset to first look at second hand before looking at new,” Vinted CEO Thomas Plantenga said in the report.
By meeting consumers’ need for a way to beat the rising cost of living as well as their desire to reduce waste, the company has been able to expand to 16 European markets as well as Canada and the U.S. and gain 75 million registered users, according to the report.
Today, the company is still hiring — aiming to add “hundreds” of employees this year and next to its current workforce of 1,500, Plantenga said — and its sales were up 37% in the first nine months of 2022, per the report.
It’s also looking to add product authentication services to its marketplace after acquiring luxury fashion marketplace Rebelle, which has experience offering such services, according to the report.
These moves come after Vinted became Lithuania’s first unicorn in 2019 and was valued at 3.5 billion euros (about $3.7 billion in today’s dollars) in May 2021, according to the report.
Vinted did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.
As PYMNTS reported Nov. 15, Vinted has pioneered the circulation fashion movement along with resale platforms Depop, The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective.
In addition, a growing number of luxury apparel and accessories brands have launched in-house resale channels or partnered with existing platforms.
Having watched a host of players make it big in the burgeoning “pre-loved” segment that’s putting green into apparel — and into cash registers — fashion brands are aiming to retake resale.
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