Retailers must build pre-loved gifting and clothing ranges into their offerings or risk losing an increasing share of seasonal spend to resale specialists. The resale market is threatening festive retail sales, with almost a quarter of Christmas shoppers purchasing secondhand items in 2024. This proportion could increase further in 2025, with consumers primarily motivated to buy secondhand to save money. At the same time, rising environmental consciousness and the growing normalisation of resale are reshaping secondhand shopping from an economic necessity into a deliberate lifestyle preference.
75.5% of festive secondhand purchases in 2024 were gifts, with clothing and accessories, books, and toys and games as the leading categories. These items are easy to assess for wear and tear, and their quality or functionality does not diminish quickly over time. In addition, the stigma around gifting secondhand products is fading, with 68.5% of consumers believing it is appropriate to gift secondhand items – an increase of 2.9 percentage points from 2023. Increasingly, buying used is seen as a smart way to find distinctive products at lower prices, particularly among younger shoppers.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
This shift will accelerate as younger generations account for a greater share of Christmas purchasing. To stay competitive in gifting, retailers must respond directly to consumers’ motivations for purchasing secondhand. They need to make it easy for shoppers to save money, shop more sustainably and access aspirational brands within their own ecosystems. Where retailers already offer secondhand, they should market festive pre‑loved zones in-store and make edits online during the Christmas period, featuring quality-checked items such as books, board games and accessories. After Christmas, retailers can offer trade-in periods for unwanted but unused gifts, exchanging them for store credit to reinforce both value and circularity while feeding stock back into curated pre-loved ranges.
In one GlobalData 2024 survey, 5.1% of consumers stated that they had bought Christmas clothing and partywear secondhand, and in another 4.5% reported they had rented Christmas partywear. These options and services are increasingly popular for events such as weddings, with purchasers often reluctant to splash out on items they only wear once or twice a year. Retailers still need to educate shoppers that this is an appealing choice for the festive season. Among those already moving to the secondhand market for their festive partywear, saving money remains the dominant motivation.
Partywear propositions need to mirror the benefits that are pulling shoppers towards rental and resale. Fashion retailers can offer their own rental services or curate a pre‑loved party edit, for example, John Lewis Fashion Rental & Resale, which allows consumers to rent or shop from a selection of brands, including Karen Millen, LK Bennett and Reiss for a period of between four and 30 days. This initiative provides shoppers with a way to purchase occasionwear for less while also making a more sustainable choice.
US Tariffs are shifting - will you react or anticipate?
Don’t let policy changes catch you off guard. Stay proactive with real-time data and expert analysis.
By GlobalData
