.png)
A Post-Holiday Puzzle
The holiday season presents both immense opportunities and significant challenges for apparel brands. While it drives record-breaking sales, fosters brand visibility, and brings consumers flocking to storefronts and websites, it also leaves brands grappling with post-holiday issues. These include mountains of unsold inventory, soaring return rates, and growing consumer scrutiny around sustainability. In 2022 alone, holiday e-commerce sales surpassed $200 billion, but this was coupled with an average return rate of 30% for online purchases, according to Shopify. The aftermath of the holiday rush isn’t just logistical—it’s financial, environmental, and reputational.
Historically, brands have turned to heavy discounts, bulk clearance sales, or discount retailers to address overstock and returns. While these methods may provide short-term relief, they come with significant drawbacks. Excessive markdowns erode profit margins and can condition customers to delay purchases until prices drop, undermining brand value. These traditional strategies fail to address the growing importance of sustainability, which has become a key driver of consumer loyalty and decision-making.
By 2025, business as usual won’t suffice. Brands must adapt to:
- Changing Consumer Behavior:
- 74% of consumers prefer to buy from brands with environmentally responsible practices (McKinsey).
- Shoppers demand sustainable options and transparency.
- Government Regulations:
- California’s SB707: Requires textile recovery programs.
- EU’s Sustainable Textiles Strategy: Enforces circularity and waste reduction.
- Business Risks:
- Fines and penalties for non-compliance.
- Reputational damage among eco-conscious consumers.
- Lost market share to competitors who adopt circular models.
The solution lies in branded resale—a transformative way to tackle post-holiday returns, overstock, and evolving consumer expectations. Resale aligns sustainability with profitability, turning a traditionally slow retail period into an opportunity to build long-term customer loyalty. With the global resale market projected to reach $350 billion by 2028, January offers the perfect storm for launching or amplifying resale platforms, making it a strategic imperative for brands. This guide will explore how apparel brands can seize this opportunity and turn post-holiday challenges into growth strategies in January and beyond.
January: The Secret Weapon for Resale Success
January is often considered a slow month for retail, as consumers recover from the holiday season and tighten their budgets. However, for brands with resale platforms, this “quiet” period is a golden opportunity. Post-holiday shoppers are uniquely positioned to engage with resale, driven by affordability, sustainability resolutions, and the desire for unique items. Launching or amplifying your branded resale platform in January allows you to capitalize on these motivations, transforming a traditionally slow month into a strategic growth period.
Why January Is Perfect for Resale
- The Post Holiday Return Wave:
The holiday season brings a spike in purchases but also a surge in returns—up to 30% of all holiday purchases, according to Shopify. Many of these returned items can’t be resold as new, creating logistical headaches and potential waste. Resale platforms offer a seamless solution by reintegrating these returns into the shopping ecosystem, reducing the burden on supply chains while capturing more value from returned items.
- Budget-Conscious Shoppers:
After the financial strain of holiday spending, consumers prioritize affordability. Resale meets this need by offering high-quality items at accessible price points, making it a natural choice for shoppers looking to stretch their budgets without sacrificing quality.
- Sustainability Resolutions:
January is a time for fresh starts, and many consumers resolve to shop more sustainably. Secondhand shopping is a practical way to align with these eco-friendly goals, and resale platforms provide an easy entry point. Data from Treet shows that January and February consistently see some of the highest secondhand sales, driven by shoppers’ renewed focus on sustainability.
- Unique Inventory Opportunities:
Returns and unsold holiday inventory create a treasure trove of one-of-a-kind offerings that are perfect for discovery-driven shoppers. Resale allows brands to showcase these items in a way that feels exclusive and intentional, increasing their appeal to consumers seeking something special.
How to Maximize January’s Potential
Brands can unlock the full value of January’s opportunities by tailoring their strategies to resonate with post-holiday consumer mindsets:
- Leverage Sustainability Campaigns:
Highlight how resale supports common New Year’s resolutions, such as reducing waste or shopping mindfully. Use marketing channels like email and social media to share stories about the environmental impact of purchasing resale instead of new.
- Turn Surplus into Urgency:
Position excess inventory and returned items as limited-time deals to create a sense of urgency. Phrases like “last chance” or “exclusive finds” can encourage faster conversions while maintaining the perceived value of your products.
- Foster Loyalty and Repeat Business:
Resale isn’t just a transaction; it’s a relationship-building tool. Returning customers are 22 times more valuable than non-loyal customers, as they tend to spend more, refer others, and try new products. By offering a resale platform, you provide additional touch points for engagement, reinforcing loyalty and encouraging repeat purchases.
- Use Storytelling to Drive Emotional Connection:
Customers increasingly care about the values behind their purchases. Use social media and email campaigns to showcase how your resale program aligns with their goals, such as reducing waste or making mindful decisions. Stories of other customers engaging with resale can build community and trust.
The Overstock Conundrum: Transforming Excess Inventory Into Opportunity
After the holiday rush, brands are often left grappling with unsold inventory. Despite improvements in forecasting, shifting consumer trends and unpredictable demand often result in surplus goods that tie up capital, strain resources, and create environmental and reputational challenges. The apparel industry produces an estimated 92 million tons of textile waste annually, with a significant portion coming from unsold inventory. Deep discounts used to clear this stock not only erode brand value but also condition customers to wait for markdowns. For brands looking to thrive, these traditional methods are no longer enough.
Strategies for Managing Holiday Overstock
- Analyze Customer Behavior: Historical data offers invaluable insights into demand patterns. By identifying best-sellers versus slow-moving items, brands can better anticipate inventory needs and maintain optimal stock levels.
- Repurpose and Re-Merchandise: Before resorting to clearance sales, brands can creatively transition surplus items into new contexts. How?
- Seasonal Repackaging: Tie leftover holiday inventory into upcoming campaigns like Valentine's Day or Earth-Day promotions.
- Mystery Bags: Bundle unsold items into exclusive packages to create excitement and exclusivity.
- Launch a Branded Resale Program: Partnering with a resale platform like Treet allows brands to seamlessly integrate overstock into secondhand channels, clearing inventory sustainably while strengthening customer trust and loyalty.
How Resale Programs Add Value
Resale programs provide a sustainable and profitable way to transform overstock into an asset:
- Exclusive Offerings: Reframe unsold inventory as rare finds or limited-edition collections.
- Eco-Friendly Storytelling: Highlight the reduced environmental impact of resale.
- Revenue Recovery: Monetize surplus inventory without resorting to heavy discounts.
Returns: A Pain Point With Untapped Potential
Returns are a standard part of doing business, especially in e-commerce, where return rates average between 20-30%, peaking during the holiday season. Additionally, 10-20% of returns aren't in "new" condition and don't have a great liquidation channel - sitting on warehouse shelves or ending up in the trash. While accommodating returns is essential for customer satisfaction, the cost to brands is significant, total returns for the industry amounted to $743 billion on merchandise in 2023.. From processing expenses to environmental waste, returns represent a logistical headache that drains profitability. In the post-holiday period, these challenges multiply, as the sheer volume of returned items overwhelms supply chains and customer service operations
The stakes are even higher as consumer expectations evolve. Many customers now see sustainable return policies as part of a brand's value system. The challenge for brands is twofold: reducing the volume of returns while maximizing the value of those that do occur.
The Financial and Environmental Toll of Returns
Returns take a measurable toll on profitability and sustainability:
- High Processing Costs: Each return costs brands an average of $33 in labor, logistics, and repackaging expenses. For high-volume returns during the holidays, these costs add up quickly.
- Environmental Damage: Many returned items cannot be resold as new, leading to unnecessary waste. A report from Optoro estimates that 5 billion pounds of returned goods end up in landfills annually in the U.S. alone.
- Customer Frustration: A poorly managed return process can sour the customer experience, particularly for eco-conscious buyers.
Rethinking Returns With Innovative Strategies
Forward-thinking brands are adopting creative solutions to reduce returns and improve the handling of those that do occur:
Enhance Pre-Purchase Experiences
Many returns result from preventable issues like mis-sizing or inaccurate expectations. To address this:
- Use enhanced sizing tools and detailed product descriptions to reduce uncertainty.
- Implement image verification systems to ensure customers receive exactly what they expect.
Efficient In-House Processing
You can reduce unnecessary returns and improve overall logistics by:
- Extend quality checks during returns intake to identify and resolve issues earlier in the process.
- Implement hands-on assembly lines for thorough inspections and faster turnaround times.
Address High-Return Customers:
A small subset of customers often accounts for a disproportionate share of returns. By analyzing return data, brands can:
- Identify patterns of abuse and introduce return limits or fees for these customers.
- Offer discounts or loyalty points to incentivize different behaviors, such as choosing store credit over refunds.
Introduce Resale Options:
Resale platforms allow brands to reframe returns as opportunities. By offering customers the option to resell lightly used items instead of returning them, brands can reduce waste while creating new revenue streams.
Resale as a Game-Changer for Returns
Branded resale platforms provide a sustainable and profitable way to tackle returns:
- Reintegrate Returned Items: Lightly used or misfit returns can be sold through resale channels, minimizing waste.
- Encourage Store Credit for Resale Purchases: Offering credit instead of refunds incentivizes repeat business while reducing return costs.
- Highlight Sustainability: Demonstrating how returned items are given a second life through resale builds trust and reinforces eco-conscious values.
Ettitude transformed its returns into a revenue stream with ettitude re:new, a resale platform powered by Treet. Customers trade gently used items—or products from any brand—for $50 credit toward new or pre-loved Ettitude merchandise. In its first year, the platform drove 31% new customers, and rehomed 87% of returned products, reducing waste and extending product lifecycles. Ettitude’s circular approach boosted satisfaction, attracted new shoppers, and reinforced its sustainability mission.
Resale as the Future of Apparel Compliance
The challenges of regulatory demands, consumer expectations, and environmental responsibility are real—but they’re also opportunities for transformation. Resale isn’t just a trend or an optional feature; it’s a critical piece of the puzzle in meeting compliance while driving profitability and purpose.
By adopting branded resale programs, brands can:
- Align with and exceed waste reduction mandates.
- Build trust and loyalty with sustainability-focused consumers.
- Future-proof their operations for evolving regulations.
At Treet, we help brands integrate resale solutions that maximize impact and align with regulatory requirements. Whether you’re just starting your journey or scaling existing efforts, we make compliance simple and effective. Book a demo today to see how resale can transform your business.
