Creation of an e-business model for the purchase and sale of second-hand garments

Abstract

Technological development within the clothing industry led to an increased consumption and higher frequency of disposing used garments. Following consumers‟ and entrepreneurs‟ recognition to act environmentally consciously, the case of second-hand business for clothes is analysed in the context of the Internet. So far only a limited amount of studies examined re-commerce and its specific characteristics, not to mention re-commerce for clothes. Despite several re-commerce models that trade with electronic devices and media, an e-business model for purchase and sale of second-hand apparel does not exist. That is why this study investigates how a business model has to be designed to serve aforementioned purposes. The basic model that is used is the CANVAS business model. The paper at hand is of qualitative nature and makes use of nine semi-structured interviews with managers in re-commerce and store owners of second-hand stores in three countries (Germany, Finland, and Switzerland). The study findings show several similarities between characteristics of the proposed business model and attributes of e-commerce respectively second-hand business. However, basic controversies and new insights are gained in regard how to design a business model for the purchase and sale of second-hand garments which were unconsidered in academic literature before. Finally, a conceptualization for the proposed business model is derived by combing academic literature and empirical data of the study. As this study is so far the first to examine an e-business for the purchase and sale of second-hand garments, this study does not only contribute to academic research, but also provides a conceptual framework which can be considered by entrepreneurs when engaging in such a business.