'Repair' and 'resale' rather than 'replace' can yield rewards says new report

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 16, 2021

Retailer-linked repair services — rather than constantly encouraging consumers to replace older items — can reap rewards, a new report said this week. 

Fashion retailers Farfetch and FW have both found benefits from moving into repair, the report said, with the latter reducing warranty return costs “by 60% after launching a gold standard repair guarantee for its outdoor clothing”.

The report said they’re “reaping the rewards of working with ReLondon (formerly known as The London Waste and Recycling Board) and QSA Partners to develop their own bespoke approach to becoming more environmentally sustainable businesses”.

And to coincide with this, QSA has just launched a free learning platform “with insights from the project for brands interested in truly embracing both sustainability and profitability”.

Farfetch and FW have worked with ReLondon and QSA over a two-year period to develop, trial and launch their new circular offerings, as part of a project called Circular Fashion Fast Forward. The new report looks at their experiences.

Farfetch launched both its Secondlife and Donate models during the period and said it has seen “significant year on year growth in purchases of pre-owned items”. 

For FW, which “embedded a gold standard repair service in the service offerings of their new brand, embracing circular business models is helping build and strengthen customer loyalty, and has reduced their costs, ultimately reducing their environmental impacts as they have not had to make new products to replace warranty claims”. 

The report also said that Farfetch is actively seeking to include even more product categories to its re-commerce model and has already rolled it out to more of its global markets.