Large retailers, such as Auchan, are increasingly turning to second-hand.
“
Since the launch of Auchan nouvelle vie in September 2020, Auchan has sold 530,000 second-hand items, thanks to our partner and operator Patatam
,” says David Decovemacker, director in the partnerships department at Auchan Retail.
This company has just changed its name and is now called Rediv, a name that suggests the extension of the life cycle of the clothing collected (
redeo, is, redire, redii, reditum
means to return to, as if the used clothing , instead of being discarded, returned to its primary purpose).
Read alsoSecond-hand products are coming to mass distribution
This name change also marks a change in strategy: from now on, Rediv is exclusively a service provider for “
retailers
” such as Auchan, Leclerc or the Beaumanoir group, and “
e-retailers
” like La Redoute.
This reversal is linked to an observation: facing the giant Vinted, it is difficult to find a place, concedes Eric Gagnaire, founder of Rediv (ex Patatam).
“
On the web, we quickly arrive at a monopolistic situation that benefits only one player.
Well, that's Vinted.
It must be said that 9 out of 10 French people know Vinted.
»
Faced with this situation, Rediv has chosen to address itself exclusively to mass distribution.
Eric Gagnaire now describes his company as a "
marketplace
", a platform for connecting sellers.
“
In Poland (as here in Łódzki), in Hungary and in France, the hypermarket is becoming a platform structure
” according to Antoine Pernod, communications director at Auchan Retail.
Tomasz Warszewski/ Adobe Stock
“
The advantage of outsourcing such a service was the very expertise of Rediv, which collects, sorts and offers the clothes.
he adds.
This exempts large retailers from such a task.
And to add that Rediv also has a large network with its various collection contracts, with Intermarché, the Beaumanoir group or Kiabi, to name but a few.
Thus a Zara garment can be resold in one of the 112 Auchan hypermarkets which offer second-hand clothing.
Read alsoThrift stores reinvigorated by the rise of the second hand
And customers subscribe to this new type of offer: either by depositing at a point of sale, or by sending parcels directly to Rediv (of fifteen garments minimum) against a voucher of 5 euros, or by buying this type less expensive (between 2 and 15 euros) and more ecological clothing.
If the sale of second-hand clothes is on the rise, David Decovemacker at Auchan, however, tempers: “
Financially, our expenses and our income [from the sale of recycled clothes] are in balance.
Afterwards, it remains a drop of water in an ocean.
In 2021, 8.3 million In extenso pieces (Auchan brand) were sold, compared to 310,000 second-hand pieces.
“Let's hope that this drop of water makes a stain.
