Marketing Tactics for Thrift Stores

This post will explore the marketing tactics used by thrift stores to engage consumers and encourage purchases.

Marketing is used to encourage consumers to purchase a product or service. So, you may be asking yourself how does a company market “old, used stuff”? Well, let’s take a look at some of the marketing tactics used by both national and small, local thrift stores.

Let’s begin with looking at the marketing tactics used by arguably one of the most influential thrift brands in the industry, Goodwill. Goodwill is a national chain of thrift stores who’s mission is to support low-income families and raising funding for various charitable organizations.

In order to create a good marketing strategy, a company must first recognize who their target market is. In the past, the target market for Goodwill was low-income families. To encourage both donation and consumption, Goodwill has released commercials like the one below to emotionally appeal to their target segment. Take a look at this commercial:

This ad encourages what is portrayed as higher-income or middle-class families/individuals to donate their items to Goodwill as the items will help lower income families find gently used items for a lower price. The ad also further encourages more people to make purchases at Goodwill as the funds are donated to support organizations, in this particular case the funds aid in educating new mothers on how to provide for their children. This ad works well because it appeals to the emotions of other mothers who want to be apart of the mission to helping others.

Over the past four years or so, the target segment for Goodwill has extended to Generation Z as thrifting has become a popular hobby. In order to attract Gen Z consumers, Goodwill released a commercial to do just that. Take a look:

This ad appeals to Generation Z consumers in many ways. The individual throughout the commercial appears to be apart of Generation Z themselves, they seem to be wearing clothes that other consumers can possibly find at Goodwill, and they are also holding a tote bag which has become a popular commodity for Gen Z consumers encouraging the sustainability value highly revered by Gen Z consumers. Another reason this ad works well is that rather than using facts and emotional appeal, this commercial appeals to one’s identity and the purchases that can be made to fit “in,” which seems to be another important value for Gen Z consumers.
Goodwill has done a good job adjusting their marketing material to meet the consumer behaviors of both target segments.

Now that we have looked at the primary marketing strategy for a national thrift store chain, let’s take a look at the strategies being used by a smaller, local thrift store chain in southeast Florida.

In southeast Florida, there is a 3-location thrift store chain called Sunshine Thrift Store. Although they are a for-profit organization, similarly to Goodwill they assist in fundraising for charitable organizations (www.sunshinethrift.com). Since Sunshine Thrift Store is a smaller organizations, purchasing commercials may not be as feasible, therefore social media marketing is one of the ways they advertise to their consumers. Check out some of the recent posts the store has made on Instagram @sunshine_thrift:

Using reels, posts, and participating in events helps keep consumers engaged and encourage purchases from the store.

Marketing “old, used stuff” may seem difficult, however it’s all about relating to your target audience. Both of these companies, although on different levels in the thrifting industry hierarchy, use their knowledge of target consumer values to shape their marketing strategy and encourage purchases.