GoodwillFinds CEO Matt Kaness discusses how technological advancements and a shift in consumer perception, especially among Gen-Z, have propelled the resale market into profitable growth. He outlines GoodwillFinds' strategy of leveraging proprietary tech for efficient operations, customer acquisition, and logistics to scale its online marketplace, highlighting the importance of a narrow brand focus with wide appeal for success in the evolving e-commerce landscape.
Key takeaways
Leverage proprietary technology to streamline operations for both sellers and internal logistics, as GoodwillFinds does with tools for listing, customer management, and outbound shipping.
Target the Gen-Z demographic by emphasizing sustainability and challenging stigmas around secondhand goods, aligning with their values and willingness to embrace resale.
Focus on acquiring diverse shopper segments (value, trend, sustainability-driven) to maximize market penetration and resilience, as evidenced by GoodwillFinds expansive customer base.
Develop a "narrow focus and wide appeal" brand strategy, concentrating on a core offering while ensuring broad resonance with different consumer segments.
Prioritize rapid scaling of product offerings and customer touchpoints (e.g., email lists) to establish market presence quickly in emerging sectors.
Matt Kaness has an extensive retail background with a heavy focus on e-commerce, having worked as the CEO of Modcloth and, for eight years, URBN’s chief strategy officer. Since late last year, he’s zeroed in on retail’s booming resale sector, as CEO of the new online marketplace GoodwillFinds. “We’re a technology venture,” Kansas said on the latest Glossy Podcast, explaining GoodwillFinds’ business model. The company’s tech focus includes building out proprietary tools “for sellers to be able to list [products] quickly, for customer acquisition and retention, and for [partner] Goodwill [store owners], in support of their packing, shipping and outbound logistics.” What drove Kaness’s interest in running GoodwillFinds was, in part, timing. “Coming out of Covid, the Gen-Z consumer has said that there's no stigma on secondhand,” he said. “That, coupled with a lot of advancements in technology, has allowed resale to scale profitably.” GoodwillFinds, itself, has also impressively scaled. According to Kaness, the marketplace is currently attracting value-driven and trend-driven shoppers, with sustainability-driven shoppers being a target demographic. Since its launch, it's built up an email database of 250,000 subscribers, plus it's en route to offering 1 million products on its e-commerce site by the end of the year. It has 20 full-time employees, with 20-30 more set to come on board by the end of 2023.
Leverage proprietary technology to streamline operations for both sellers and internal logistics, as GoodwillFinds does with tools for listing, customer management, and outbound shipping.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Target the Gen-Z demographic by emphasizing sustainability and challenging stigmas around secondhand goods, aligning with their values and willingness to embrace resale.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Focus on acquiring diverse shopper segments (value, trend, sustainability-driven) to maximize market penetration and resilience, as evidenced by GoodwillFinds expansive customer base.
What does this episode say about ai & automation?
Develop a "narrow focus and wide appeal" brand strategy, concentrating on a core offering while ensuring broad resonance with different consumer segments.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Prioritize rapid scaling of product offerings and customer touchpoints (e.g., email lists) to establish market presence quickly in emerging sectors.
