Poshmark's Social Commerce Report Finds Social Shopping and Resale Are Driving Retail's Biggest Shifts

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Feb. 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Poshmark, a leading social commerce platform for the next generation of retailers and shoppers, today announced the release of its second social commerce report, "2020: The Year of Social Shopping." The report draws on insights from over 8,000 shoppers surveyed across the U.S. and Canada, in addition to data from Poshmark's 60 million community members, uncovering the impact of social shopping on brand discovery and e-commerce transactions, while identifying how resale is fueling larger industry changes.

"2019 was a pivotal year for social commerce due to the surging popularity of resale. The retail landscape shifted drastically, as consumers embraced new ways to shop and think about their closets," said Manish Chandra, founder & CEO of Poshmark. "Looking ahead to 2020, consumers are emerging with an inherent desire for connection, redefining what it means to buy and sell, making social shopping synonymous with retail itself."

Additionally, the company announced that over 100 million orders have been placed on the platform to date, underscoring the significance of social commerce and resale in today's retail landscape. 

The Highlights

E-commerce transactions are growing at the peer-to-peer level. Today, 58 percent of consumers are comfortable purchasing items through social media platforms instead of a company's website, and 75 percent are comfortable purchasing items directly from people online. Poshmark is among the most popular platforms to purchase from, alongside Instagram and Facebook Marketplace.

Resale value is increasingly top of mind when shopping. When unable to return an item online, 92 percent of Poshmark users and 35 percent of non-users would sell it online. What's more, 76 percent of Poshmark users think about an item's resale value before purchasing.

Social shopping and resale are fueling the revolving closet phenomenon. Shopping and selling have become more fluid, accelerating the opportunity of a circular economy. Shoppers are turning to platforms like Poshmark to extend the lifecycle of clothing, creating a more sustainable future. From Gen Z to Baby Boomers, secondhand items make up an average of 14 percent of consumer closets. Poshmark shoppers offer a glimpse into the future, with secondhand items taking up nearly 40 percent of their closet space.

Closets are changing, but resale is the most consistent category. Resale is more popular than ever before across all generations, with the following brands being some of the most purchased on Poshmark:

• Gen Z: Gucci, Adidas and Brandy Melville
• Millennials: Nike, Madewell and Anthropologie
• Gen X: Tory Burch, Kate Spade and Patagonia
• Baby Boomers: Coach, Michael Kors and Eileen Fisher

Today's closets underscore the shifts of retail disruption across generations. Gen Z owns the most resale, fast fashion and luxury products of all generations. Millennial closets are the most diverse, straddling traditional mall and emerging brands. Gen X loves mall brands and Baby Boomers look to value chains more than any other generation to fill their closets. 

Gen Z will bring social commerce to the forefront of retail. More so than any other generation, Gen Z takes style cues from social media influencers (34 percent), celebrities and pop culture icons (37 percent), and streetwear (38 percent). The emerging generation already makes up 20 percent of Poshmark users and one in four new users in 2019.

Social shopping democratizes retail, meaning anyone –– from anywhere –– can build a successful brand. The epicenter of resale is the South, where 35 percent of Poshmark sellers live. And while Poshmark users have a strong presence in major cities across the country, a majority of sellers live outside of major cities: 40 percent live in small to medium-sized cities and 34 percent live in suburbs and rural areas. Nearly a quarter (22 percent) of Poshmark sellers are full-time.

To read the full report, visit report.poshmark.com. Last year's report can be found here.  

About Poshmark
Poshmark is a leading social commerce platform for the next generation of retailers and shoppers. Through technology, our mission is to build the world's most connected shopping experience, while empowering people to build thriving retail businesses. Since launching in 2011, Poshmark has become a vibrant social shopping community with eight million Seller Stylists helping 60 million users discover items they love from over 100 million listings. The company is backed by the world's leading investment firms including Mayfield, Menlo Ventures, GGV Capital, Temasek, Inventus Capital, Uncork Capital, Union Grove Venture Partners, Shea Ventures and AngelList. For more information, please visit www.poshmark.com, or find us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube.

For more information, please contact:
Sera Michael
[email protected]

SOURCE Poshmark

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