Why We Invest: SSSMarket - Saving the planet by small step changing the wardrobe
11/10/2022 The ReCommerce market is currently in its “harvest season” possessing huge and successful businesses which are valued up to trillions USD, such as Vinted, ThredUP, and Depop. According to market research from ThredUP, since the pandemic, the secondhand market is expected to triple its value in the next 10 years, from 28 billion USD in 2019 to 80 billion USD in 2029.
Sensing this huge potential in Vietnam, and witnessing how severe has the environment been, of which the fashion industry is majorly accused, ThinkZone Ventures has decided to invest in SSSMarket, a Re-commerce platform for fashion. ThinkZone Ventures’s mission is to become a companion supporting startups and together create meaningful values for society. The reasons stated below are why ThinkZone Ventures decided to invest in SSSMarket.
Firstly, what does SSSMarket deliver to the consumers?
Via this re-commerce platform, people can display garments they no longer want, and sell to people in need using SSSmarket’s logistic services. Besides, this platform can support (online) shop owners in selling out stocks. On the other end, buyers can purchase items safely since quality and security are guaranteed by SSSMarket. The platform also exerts a diversity of choices for buyers to find their styles.
“When considering business models for startups, I want to have something that leverages people’s lives along with market potentials. Thus, I chose Re-commerce.” - claimed Andy Tran, Co-founder & Co-CEO of SSSMarket.
From a chat with Andy Tran, ThinkZone Ventures was inspired by the values and ethics that this startup aimed to achieve via the meaning of “SSS”. As mentioned, SSS resembles:
Social - The focus on society
SSSMarket raises environmental awareness among the people who are in love with fashion by encouraging them to trade worn clothes on the platform. By doing that, SSSMarket helps reduce expenses from the fashion industry, while saving up money for both sellers and buyers.
Sharing - Share and spread messages through the languages of fashion
Women tend to own lots of clothes. However, the turnover is also high, leading to piles of clothing pieces left unused. The question is: “Instead of keeping and letting clothes be wasted, how about trading them with the people who are in need?”
Shoperience - Smart and new experience of buying
SSSMarket aims to change customers’ experiences by suggesting relevant items to users with the application of AI and Machine Learning, to find the right items for the right person. Along with it, the platform creates a convenient and smooth usage experience, like TikTok and Facebook that fits with the youth’s preferences.
Nevertheless, the SSSMarket team has proven its competencies in making the organization’s vision into practice.
SSSMarket soon caught the public's attention through its touching story. The startup soon received positive feedback from secondhand shops and KOLs, indicating a huge demand from the secondhand market. From January to August 2022, the number of users has sky-rocketed from 200,000 users to 650,000 users. Besides that, this year, SSSMarket’s business operation remains stable, as presented by GMV. Compared to the first quarter, the GMV of SSSMarket in quarter II has increased by about 32%, especially in July, the rate has doubled compared to its previous two months.
The biggest problem of the Re-commerce model is how to manage the quality of secondhand items when the platform expands.
SSSMarket progresses in resolving this issue by the application of AI technology that can assess the quality of displayed products. Based on the assessment, SSSMarket can evaluate and oversee the quality of garments on its platform.
At present, ThinkZone Ventures is proactively building our partnership with SSSMarket and Phú Thái Holdings corporation, one of the investors in ThinkZone Fund II, a leading multi-industrial corporation from Vietnam with advantages in logistics and sales in different industries, including fashion fabrication. Therefore, SSSMarket can horizontally approach a diversity of fashion brands, accelerating the number of creditable sellers on the platform.
With the large resources and social capital, ThinkZone Ventures will continue to stay and aid SSSMarket to become the leading re-commerce model in the Vietnamese market, participating as a part of the journey of making SSSMarket’s dream come true.
