Carousell acquires fashion thrift store brand Refash

C2C buying platform Carousell has signed a deal to acquire omnichannel fashion recommerce retailer Refash in Singapore.  Off the back of its partnership with Ox Street to power authentication capabilities for secondhand streetwear, the acquisition reflects the group’s laser-focused drive to solve barriers of convenience and trust in selling and buying secondhand.

Leveraging Refash’s offline retail foundation via 10 physical thrift stores across Singapore and its operational expertise in helping Singaporeans declutter for cash, the partnership will activate ‘empty-your-closet’ capabilities to help time-starved sellers declutter in an instant, to make selling more seamless than ever. Refash has built a profitable foundation since 2015, and will continue to operate as its own brand, retaining its name, platform, and team. The acquisition will drive a synergistic partnership between the marketplaces and accelerate the pace of recommerce in Singapore, said Carousell in a press statement. 

With the acquisition, Carousell looks to strengthen its presence in the fashion space which it has had a presence in since 2012. Focusing on feedback from the Carousell community, one of the top concerns is that users have no time to sell. The partnership with Refash enables Carousell to take a significant next step for one of their core categories to make selling secondhand fashion even simpler, and to power the future of sustainable and circular fashion.

“We are privileged to partner with the Refash team, who share our passion of making secondhand the first choice, and bring over seven years of experience in the fashion recommerce space. We see immense opportunity in teaming up to make selling even simpler for anyone time-starved who has underused clothes in their wardrobes,” said Quek Siu Rui, Co-founder and CEO of Carousell.
 

“With our reach and expertise in using technology and AI to create seamless buy-sell experiences for secondhand, we are excited to partner and accelerate the growth of Refash. Above all, we are most excited about joining forces with a mission-oriented team to serve the community by making secondhand fashion more fuss-free and accessible than ever before,” he added.

Carousell said that it registers fashion amongst its largest categories for both supply and demand across the majority of its markets.

Aloysius Sng, founder, Refash added that he is looking forward to leveraging on Carousell’s capabilities and existing network to unlock more areas of growth. “Through our physical thrift store network, we are providing a much sought-after service for consumers to declutter their closets in a quick and fuss-free manner, and together with Carousell, we can meaningfully enable more to participate in both ends of the spectrum, that is, to buy and sell secondhand fashion. I’ve never been more excited about Refash and its recommerce potential as we continue to make purchasing secondhand delightful,” said Sng. 

Separetely, Carousell has also teamed up with IKEA Singapore to launch a secondhand showroom at IKEA Tampines in celebration of Earth Day. The month-long physical showroom in IKEA Tampines features preloved IKEA items from influencers such as singer-songwriter Nathan Hartono, Tiong Jia En, Munah Bagharib and even Carousell co-founder Marcus Tan from 21 April to 30 June 2022. The showroom will display these items and their stories, to showcase how secondhand items can be desirable, inspiring and aspirational, IKEA said in a statement

Photo Courtsey: 123RF

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