Sportswear giant Adidas has launched a resale program using fashion marketplace ThredUp’s resale-as-a-service infrastructure and know-how.
The ‘Choose to Give Back’ option will allow shoppers to return second-hand sporting goods, fashion and footwear to Adidas, using the company’s Creator’s Club app, for subsequent reuse or resale.
The sports retailer hopes the project will boost efforts to create a circular product life cycle.
“Adidas has a reputation for driving innovative, sustainable solutions globally, and ThredUp is thrilled to support their latest initiative to encourage more circular habits among consumers,” said Pooja Sethi, senior vice president and general manager of RaaS at ThredUp.
“By enabling resale at scale with customizable solutions for leading brands and retailers, we’re keeping high-quality clothes in use longer and fighting fashion waste.”
Katja Schreiber, Adidas’s SVP of sustainability, added, “We believe that great performance shouldn’t come at the cost of the environment. That’s why we’re committed to establishing a circular future for sportswear, and with the Choose to Give Back program are helping people to see new possibilities to give old gear new life.”
Following its initial members-only app launch in early October, the program is being rolled out online and is projected to reach stores early next year. Consumers can access a prepaid shipping label through the app with which they can send clothing and accessories of any brand or category.
Items that cannot be resold will be passed onto ThredUp’s network of textile reuse partners. Customer participation is incentivized through rewards.
Adidas joins a growing band of retailers who are moving into resale, as they seek to appeal to green-minded consumers by minimizing their environmental footprint.
ThredUp’s 2021 Resale Report found that retailers’ adoption of resale was poised to accelerate, with 60% already offering their customers second-hand goods or being open to doing so.
In April, Adidas’s footwear rival Nike launched its “Nike Refurbished” line, through which the retailer proposed to repair lightly-worn or imperfect sneakers and resell them in its stores at a discount.