The vast majority of consumers are aware of the financial benefits of circular practices – particularly repair and second-hand shopping – finds a new report from Klarna, the AI-powered payments network and shopping assistant.
Klarna’s 2024 Circularity Insights Report provides actionable strategies for brands to fully leverage the potential of circularity, while also shedding light on new and emerging consumer trends related to circular practices within the fashion and electronics sectors. The report draws on insights from a survey of over 3,000 consumers across the UK, USA, and Germany, as well as interviews with sustainability experts from The Wardrobe Diary Project, Save Your Wardrobe, and Refurbed.
According to the report, 70 per cent of UK customers are aware of the cost advantages of circular fashion practices like rentals, secondhand buying, and repair.
The research does, however, indicate that there is still a “notable gap” between opinions and actual action, and that “cost, convenience, and feasibility hurdles prevent these practices from being widely adopted.”
“Klarna’s 2024 Circularity Insights Report highlights consumers’ increasing awareness of the economic benefits of more sustainable, circular practices, like repairing items or second-hand shopping,” said Alexandra Colac, Sustainability Lead, Klarna.
The largest chance to save money is thought to be in item repair (44 per cent), followed by thrift stores (39 per cent) and rentals (20 per cent).
Regarding repair, its deployment is still in its “growth phase.” Although consumers believe it can save them money, 77 per cent of them decide not to fix clothes items when they need to, and 87 per cent feel the same way about shoes and accessories.
When it comes to clothing, 67 per cent of consumers chose to buy exclusively new goods within the last year, while 33 per cent of customers welcomed used products into their closets.
The primary obstacles to implementing circular processes vary per industry. The top four obstacles to fashion item repair are cost (20 per cent), feasibility (28 per cent), convenience (30 per cent), and utility (26 per cent). Additionally, depreciation makes buying used goods more difficult; 21 per cent of consumers cite low clothing resale value.
