The sharing economy: Fashion business enterprise cases

The sharing economy business model has gained attention as a new, alternative pathway to promote sustainable consumption through sharing, renting and swapping used products. Nevertheless, there is still insufficient research available to understand the mechanisms of different types of sharing economy business models within the realm of fashion enterprise. This study aims to provide three, empirical business case studies that investigate how fashion companies utilise clothing sharing services in South Korea. These three case studies were conducted in order to identify each organisation’s sharing economy business model by evaluating their value propositions, target market segments, revenue mechanisms and marketing mix strategies. Data was collected by observing each organisation via their website and social media, as well as by conducting interviews with each company. The findings will be discussed in relation to use-oriented product-service systems (PSSs), according to collaborative consumption theory. This study concludes that the sharing economy business model provides opportunities to optimise resource usage of used products, ranging from expensive, luxury products to lower-end goods. However, South Korea’s current sharing economy business model is predominately applicable for small to medium-sized businesses, and the potential of increasing the scale of PSSs within the fashion industry needs to be further discussed.