Resale is getting a refresh. As the popularity of secondhand shopping grows, Poshmark is leading the charge in revolutionizing the industry.
Poshmark’s Chief Marketing Officer Steven Tristan Young is passionate about sharing that message and connecting with Poshmark’s growing customer base.
“I'm always thinking about the customer,” he says. “How do I market to that customer? How do I think about their needs? How do I think about the value that we're selling to them? How do I get them to not just adopt the product, but then eventually love the product?”
Young joins Retail Gets Real to talk about sustainable shopping and gifting, how Poshmark is leveraging AI, and why live shopping experiences are the future of retail.
The growth of secondhand shopping
When Young joined Poshmark in 2018, the world of sustainability and secondhand shopping was still a nascent business. He estimates that the total addressable market at the time was about $25 billion in the United States; now it’s likely more than half a trillion.
Poshmark’s own consumer base has grown from about 60 million users in 2018 to more than 130 million across the U.S. and Canada today.
“There's really been an awareness of people buying secondhand and buying sustainably,” Young says. “Being a part of this category and watching that grow has been really amazing.”
Young sees parallels between resale retail and other growing industries. “The analogy I often say is, if you think about in 2018, most people wouldn't think about buying secondhand. Well, 10 years ago, you also didn't think about sleeping on someone's couch or riding in someone else's car, but you probably use Uber and Airbnb a lot more than you used to,” he says. “This is an industry that is growing and will only grow. You will be doing this even more in the future.”
The next evolution of retail: live shopping
Poshmark is one of the U.S. industry leaders in live shopping. Since it launched the program in 2023, it has aired over a billion minutes of content. The live shopping experience features a seller explaining the highlights of a product in addition to having a live auction component.
“The live shopping experience makes selling come to life and allows a seller to connect with the buyer in a much more meaningful way,” Young says. “I think this is the next evolution of how shopping exists in the U.S. It's a form of entertainment. It's a form of shopping. It's a form of live connecting.”
The trend of gifting sustainably
Check out NRF’s hub designed to support retailers’ efforts to generate economic value while creating net positive environmental, social and community benefits.
While regifting used to be considered a faux pas, now resale gifting is the biggest holiday trend. “Sustainable gifting has become super, super hot,” Young says.
Poshmark promotes an annual event called Secondhand Sunday on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. The goal is to offer shoppers a more sustainable option than buying brand new, so they can get a great deal while also supporting small secondhand businesses.
“We’re aiming to take away the stigma around buying a secondhand item for someone you love because it shouldn't have any shame at all, especially when it's usually a new tag item,” Young says. “Everyone wants to feel smart about their purchase, feel good about their contribution to the environment, and also feel good and look good.”
Listen to the full episode to hear more about Young’s career, his marketing philosophy, and his lessons for leaders.
Episode chapters
(00:01:17) Steven Tristan Young’s career journey
- Discovering his passion for marketing
- Working in both tech and consumer marketing
- What attracts him to working with a brand
(00:05:28) The Poshmark customer
- How the Poshmark customer has evolved
- Watching the secondhand category grow
(00:07:38) The journey of buying and selling on Poshmark
- The simple process of listing items
- How easy it is to find products on Poshmark
(00:10:19) Poshmark’s stack of marketing strategies
- Merging digital and offline marketing
- Making all the marketing channels work together
(00:11:46) The live shopping experience
- How live shopping is the next evolution of retail
- Live selling as a form of entertainment and connection
(00:15:03) Poshmark’s vision for AI
- How it uses AI within marketing
- Educating employees on AI’s capabilities
- Investing time in developing AI tools
(00:17:13) Holiday shopping trends and sustainable gifting
- The growing popularity of sustainable gifting
- Shopping on Secondhand Sunday
- Trends Gen Z are loving
(00:21:29) Authenticating resale products
- Poshmark’s new partnership with Coach
- Tracking where your product came from
(00:23:19) Young’s leadership lessons
- What you can learn from both good and bad bosses
- Following leaders over logos
Resources:
- poshmark.com
- Get ready for Retail’s Big Show in NYC
- Become an NRF member and join the world’s largest retail trade association
- Find more episodes at retailgetsreal.com
The retail industry impacts everyone, everywhere, every day.
NRF’s podcast features unfiltered, insightful conversations with the industry’s most interesting people. Hear retail executives, industry experts, entrepreneurs and influencers discuss trends, their career stories and the future of retail.
Subscribe to NRF's Retail Gets Real podcast
Apple | Spotify
Related content
