There are countless companies out there that offer clothing rentals, but Toronto's Boro is a start-up that taps into the sharing economy, making it possible for locals to borrow from the closets of others nearby.
Boro's platform lists items like dresses, accessories, tops and bottoms that can be borrowed from another user for the span of anywhere between four to 10 days. Through the site, only pieces with a retail value of more than $300 are considered for sharing, and the site claims that lenders have the potential to make more money than they would selling their pieces.
Once a lender has uploaded a photo and a short description of the item that they would like to share on Boro, the service's representatives take care of the rest, including cleaning and the logistics of sharing the garment with other users.
P2P Clothing Rental Services
'Boro' Lets People Borrow Apparel and Accessories from Other Locals
Trend Themes
1. Peer-to-peer Clothing Rental - Opportunity for individuals to share and borrow clothing items directly from other locals, bypassing traditional rental companies.
2. Sharing Economy Fashion - Growing trend of utilizing the sharing economy model in the fashion industry, allowing people to access a wider range of fashion items without owning them.
3. Monetizing Closet Assets - Opportunity for individuals to make money by lending out their high-value clothing pieces instead of selling them.
Industry Implications
1. Fashion Rental - The fashion rental industry can leverage the peer-to-peer model to offer a more extensive inventory of clothing options to customers.
2. Online Marketplaces - Online marketplaces can explore integrating peer-to-peer clothing rental services as an additional offering to provide users with more diverse product options.
3. Logistics and Cleaning Services - Opportunity for logistics and cleaning service providers to collaborate with peer-to-peer clothing rental platforms to streamline the processes of sharing and maintaining rented items.