Fashion giant H&M to launch resale platform in Canada next month

Swedish retail giant H&M is launching its own second-hand fashion platform in Canada next month as it continues to expand its presence in the red-hot resell market.

The new platform, called H&M Rewear, is a “one-stop digital customer to customer (C2C) resell destination” powered by London-based Resale-as-a-Service (RaaS) technology company Reflaunt.

Candian customers can buy and sell pre-loved fashion items, and, interestingly, any piece of clothing from any brand can be added to the platform, not just H&M products.

Frederic Tavoukdjian, country manager of H&M Canada, said it was important to be “inclusive of all brands”.

“We want to provide a destination for Canadians to become active participants in circularity and find new homes for garments from any brand in their closet,” Tavoukdjian said in a release. “As this is a Canadian initiative, H&M Canada will be the first market to launch Rewear.”

H&M continues circular drive

Launching on September 7, the platform is the latest push by H&M into the fast-growing resell market.

In 2019, the group upped its stake in Swedish re-commerce platform Sellpy to become its majority owner, and has since expanded it to Germany, the Netherlands and Austria.

The group has also launched initiatives in rental, repair and re-commerce in recent years.

“Although we offer garment collecting in our stores, we felt it was important to find a second way for our customers to recycle their clothing,” said Geraldine Maunier-Rossi, head of marketing for H&M Canada.

Features of the new platform include the ability to search H&M products directly by putting in the product number found on the care label; picture retouch on all listings to create “a premium visual experience”; and a price recommendation algorithm to help sellers optimize their chances of successful selling.