Poshmark accelerates its expansion, Australia may become a new blue ocean market for second-hand e-commerce!

Poshmark, a US second-hand e-commerce platform, is pursuing long-term growth through international expansion and is now expanding its business to Australia, which may become a new blue ocean market for second-hand e-commerce.

Poshmark launches in Australia

Founded in Australia last month, Poshmark has launched its operations in Australia , offering local shoppers an alternative option as it looks to turn Australians ’ never-worn clothes into lucrative profits.

It combines online marketplaces like eBay and Gumtree with the social media features of platforms like Instagram , offering a hybrid service that allows buyers to view potential bargains through a curated feed, or through user listings picked by Poshmark’s algorithm.

"Buyers can quickly and easily search for specific items or categories because our algorithms personalize each user's feed to surface the most relevant items," Alex Constantinides, Poshmark's director of international expansion, told Business Insider Australia.

Additionally, Constantinides said the dynamic nature of product listings on its marketplace and the freshness of the assortment carefully curated by sellers further increases engagement on the marketplace. This engagement has proven successful for the 11-year-old company, which now has 70 million users worldwide.

However, the company’s new Australian business must now contend with the reopening of bricks-and-mortar retailers while proving its tailored shopping experience can stand out in an online retail market that could change the way Australians shop.

Australia's second-hand market has great potential

Interest in the second-hand social marketplace is particularly prevalent among Millennial and Gen Z users, who made up 80% of Poshmark’s user base as of the end of 2019.

“Social marketplaces enable younger generations to engage with powerful networks of people, build followings and grow their communities,” Constantinides said.

Poshmark's arrival in Australia comes as online retail spending levels in the country have risen due to the pandemic, with research from the company showing 79% of people said they had clothes in their wardrobes they had nowhere to wear during lockdown . In addition, about 28% of respondents claimed to have $500 or more worth of unworn clothing.

Mr Constantinides said Australia ’s enthusiasm for online shopping and the number of unworn items in wardrobes would make the country ’s social market an exciting new frontier.

Beyond that, Poshmark’s main competitor may be Depop , which officially launched its Australian operations in late 2019. At the time, Depop claimed Australia was its third-largest market, making Poshmark a clear challenger in the emerging second-hand market.

However, the company is confident in its business model, with Constantinides arguing that there is currently no marketplace that offers Australians the opportunity to build businesses and connections that Poshmark does.

Australia

Second-hand e-commerce

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