Online retailer Farfetch has partnered with second-hand clothing platform Thrift+ as a way to allow customers to donate unwanted items to charities and receive credits to use on their site.
A participant in Farfetch’s technology accelerator programme Dream Assembly, Thrift+ is an online retailer that sells second-hand fashion and donates a portion of proceeds to one of 160,000 registered charities in the UK.
As part of the new partnership, Farfetch customers will be able to buy a “Thrift+ x Farfetch” donation bag and select a charity of their choice. They can then book a free collection service, or drop off the bag filled with their unwanted clothes and accessories at a local drop-off point.
When the bag is received, each item is photographed and listed for sale on the Thrift+ website. When an item sells, a third of the proceeds is given to the customer in the form of Farfetch credits.
Another third is donated to their chosen charity and the final third goes to Thrift+ to cover costs.
Customers also have the choice of forfeiting their Farfetch credit so as to donate two-thirds of the item sale to charity, instead of just one third.
“We know our consumers would like an easy way to clear their wardrobes of unused items, and at the same time, they would like to feel positive about it,” Farfetch sustainable business director Thomas Berry said.
“Thrift+ x Farfetch links our customer base with an innovative service that improves the donation experience and has a positive impact by giving good-quality clothes another useful life and supporting multiple charities.
“This is a natural extension to our Farfetch Second Life resale programme, focused on luxury handbags, and part of our broader approach to sustainability.”
Thrift+ founder Joe Metcalfe said: “We make donating second-hand clothes more effective, more transparent and more convenient, giving second-hand shoppers the same quality shopping experience as regular shoppers.
“Thrift+ was founded with the mission of bringing charity shops online. For this reason, we are delighted to be partnering with the leading global technology platform for the luxury fashion industry and to support them on their sustainability journey.”
RPA Perspective Separately, Sorted, the global delivery experience platform, recently announced that it will be partnering with Farfetch to help connect Farfetch’s network of luxury boutiques and partners across the world, utilising Sorted’s delivery platform.
This partnership will allow Sorted to enhance Farfetch’s current ship-from-partner delivery proposition, not to mention allow integration into its fulfilment centres, helping to scale its delivery management capabilities globally.
The partnership has allowed Sorted to work closely with Farfetch, developing the ideal integration of existing ecommerce fulfilment technology – which enables Farfetch to use different services and carriers for each part of the online order process.
Sorted’s scalable software as a service (SaaS) platform will give Farfetch a system with which to improve their customer experience.
David Grimes, Founder and CEO, at Sorted, said: “Sorted’s technology helps retailers expand delivery options to customers, and we’re excited to be adding Farfetch as our first marketplace client to our impressive roster of clients.
“It’s important that companies like Farfetch are actively embracing software innovations like this and investing in the post purchase stage in order to keep pace and continue rewriting the rules when it comes to delivery in the competitive world of retail.”
