Let's go thrift shopping: Exploring circular business model innovation in fashion retail

The circular economy offers promising opportunities for the fashion industry to decouple revenue streams from resource use. To take advantage of these opportunities, this research study investigates circular business model innovation and advances knowledge on what drives such innovation and how this process can be accelerated. In a collaborative setting, we developed and validated a circular business model that supports clothing reuse. Inspired by design science and supported by business model theory, the research reveals that consumer centricity drives circular business model innovation, and logistics services act as a catalyst accelerating this process. These findings provide foresight to support retail transformation toward the circular economy. Thirteen business model-oriented propositions are put forward to elaborate theory.

Automated summary

This research investigates the opportunities and driving factors of circular business model innovation in the fashion industry, and puts forward 13 business model propositions to further develop this theory. The findings reveal that consumer centricity and logistics services as catalysts contribute to circular business model innovation, supporting the transformation of retail towards a circular economy.