The garment resale economy is alive and growing. In 2018 the industry was valued at $24 billion, coming in close behind the $35 billion fast fashion industry. To capitalize on this growth, the prominent players are scooping up large amounts of investor dollars. They’re investing portions of that funds into process efficiency and reducing listing times. Tailored Capture is one such product created with this in mind.
Money Raised by Known Resellers as of 2020
- thredUP $305 million
- The RealReal $358 Million
- Poshmark $153 million
- Swap.com $34 million
- Tradesy $75 million
Amazingly, the amount of vintage product taken in by an organization can exceed 50,000 items per week. Thus process efficiency is at a premium! It’s widely known manually measuring clothing is one of the most mundane, time consuming tasks throughout the supply chain. Resellers must measure donated clothes and transcribe the data before listing items for sale. This information is imperative so consumers have a better understanding of the product they’re buying. Therefore shaving even just a few seconds means more product listed in a given day.
How Tailored is Changing The Listing Process
Tailored is revolutionizing the garment intake process by eliminating manual measuring and data entry. Its patented Capture software is a machine learning that can measure an entire garment with a single photo. Measurement data instantly uploads to the online listing, removing both the measuring and data entry task. Up to 80% reductions in time spent per garment can been realized.
The system can be used in a fixed position (see photo) or free hand with a mobile device. Allowing almost any sized reseller to adopt the technology within budget.
Time Saved, More Product Listed
Within the resale industry a typical product listing can take anywhere from 6 to 11 minutes. For corporate sellers the process requires more time and humans than someone selling their jeans on eBay, but the goal is the same. To be at the sub 4 minute mark per listing allows resellers to scale without the addition of exponential human resources.
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that change is constant; and although many associate the word automation with robots taking over the world, Capture is designed to operate alongside humans, not replace necessarily them. We at Tailored believe humans will always play a role in apparel retail, though automation will allow traditional, garment resale and rental markets to operate more efficiently. With employees being the largest expense for any organization, utilizing their talent for high value tasks and not the mundane and repetitive should be a top priority.