Key Sentence:
- The circular economy is no longer new.
Instead of buying a drill used two or three times and then locked in a cupboard, more and more of us are recruiting via apps from our coworkers. And instead of choosing between cheap fast fashion and much cheaper designer labels, millennials and Generation Z, in particular, feel right at home buying first-class second-hand brands.
This is a good thing – not least because it prevents things from piling up in national landfills. The circular economy points to be associated with the startup boom – companies that start small and build an audience, but the more prominent names seem to be coming in.
Witness Fat Llama, a UK affiliate founded in 2017. This year the company launched a new engagement platform that allows major retailers to offer rental options to their customers. The main focus is on furniture, and so far, the company has worked with national brands John Lewis, DFS, and Sofology.
And what exactly is going on here? The first thing to say is that Britons of a certain age are used to renting expensive items from high-end shops. For example, since the 1960s and 1970s, most consumers have chosen to pay for their color TV through a monthly rental rather than buying it outright. Then it comes down to affordability, and when wages go up, and prices (relatively) go down, buying becomes the order of the day.