eCommerce success: the story of Momox

11/05/2021
  • Are we living a sale boom of second-hand goods? The eCommerce success story behind Momox says we are. Get to know it.

  • What we could call "recovery trade" is not really a novelty for anyone. Even in its most digital aspect, we are used to coexist with tools or applications such as Wallapop, Vinted and even Facebook with its marketplace.

    Even so, the level of sophistication of Momox's business model more than deserves an analysis like the one we are going to make below. It looks set to set a new standard in the coming months... and years.
  • What is Momox?

  • This is an eCommerce that sells exclusively second-hand or used products. This is the simple definition, but as we will discuss, it is actually a more complex ecosystem than that of an online store.

    The company's story began in 2004, in Berlin. Along with London, the German capital is probably one of the meccas when it comes to the sale of second-hand clothing and products. It therefore seems logical that such a project should have been born there.
  • In the following years, the growth of Momox has been almost unstoppable. So much so that in 2019 they managed to surpass the barrier of 250 million euros in turnover and 120 million customers.
  • INSIGHT:The context of your target audience and their consumption habits can serve as a drive to create your own business model and guarantees, almost pre-validated.
  • The products on Momox

  • Although fashion is gradually becoming one of Momox's main business lines, it is neither the first nor the most profitable.

    In its beginnings, this company bet -and continues to do so- on other types of products more culture aimed. Especially books, movies, records and video games.

    The landing in fashion is much later, since it did not occur until 2014. It was an important milestone, but the basis of their success was cemented in the other products they sold for a decade.
  • INSIGHT: It is important to consolidate one step before taking the next. But in this case, there is also an additional strategic component. Physical media in culture are reducing their weight and the profitability they offer: it is therefore important to diversify into other niches.
  • How to sell on Momox

  • So many years of experience make it work excellently. They have been refining the operation until everything runs like a well-oiled machine, although it is not easy.

    From the customer's point of view, everything is simple and frictionless. There are only 3 somewhat different steps depending on what you want to sell.

    When it's a book or a DVD, you just enter the barcode and the system algorithm gives you a price. Then, we prepare the shipment and receive the money in our account. By the way: shipping is completely free for the seller.
  • When it comes to fashion, the whole process is the same, but we have to add some more information beforehand: gender, brand and model of the garment. This is enough.

    The difficult part is transparent for the seller. Orders have to be analyzed when received, manually sorted and organized inside the warehouse. A large part of Momox's 1,000 employees are specifically focused to these tasks.
  • INSIGHT:If you want to run an efficient business, you have to take care of your suppliers. In this case they are individuals, but it does not change anything. Simplicity and transparency so that anyone is encouraged to sell.
  • How to buy on Momox

  • In reality, it does not have a big difference compared to what it means to buy in any other eCommerce; but there are some peculiarities.

    Since the stock comes from the users themselves and not from a manufacturer, inventory management is a bit more complicated. You cannot expect to find a huge amount of sizes and colors for the products sold on their website, there is what you see and that is it.

    Again, there is a difference between the different lines of business. It is easier to have multiple copies of a book or a video game than a particular black Zara blouse, size 38.

    But back to purchase operation, it is really the same as in any other store or app. We add to the cart and the shipment is processed in 24 hours.
  • INSIGHT: Turn what is objectively a weakness into a competitive differential advantage. Shortage can be a real purchase driver if we play our cards right.
  • Online sales strategy

  • In order to sell such different products in an organized and coherent way, they could have chosen to create a platform with the structure of a horizontal marketplace. In other words: multiple products and categories on a single website.

    However, this is not the path they have chosen. Originally, there were two distinct brands: Momox for selling books, music and video games and Ubup for fashion.
  • It makes sense considering that they were two independent and watertight projects despite sharing structures and processes.

    It is true that they have a lot in common; we could even say that they would not have been able to make the leap to fashion if they had not perfected the business model of second-hand culture. But Ubup made sense because the differences are relevant enough to break it up.

    Recently, in February 2021, they decided to unify both brands under the same identity. Thus Momox Fashion was born to, benefiting from the original branding create a much more consistent brand experience and solid communication.
  • INSIGHT: When you gain a certain fame, it is easier to group different projects under the same brand. In this way, you will be able to project the reputation, values and vision of the original company on them.
  • Obviously, eCommerce is one of Momox's strongest channels, but not the only one. From the very beginning, they were able to see the potential of marketplaces such as Amazon or eBay, where they have been able to become very strong.

    This has helped them to expand their potential reach and maximize an international strategy that, through their eCommerce, is limited to Germany, Austria, France and the United Kingdom (at least until Brexit, since they have now suspended trade with that region).

    The results are to take off our hat to them. They have become the top provider of used goods on eBay and Amazon in Germany (second globally).
  • INSIGHT: Do not rule out any channel without trying it, as long as the barriers to entry are acceptable. You do not know where there may be an opportunity for growth. Also, in the case of Momox, it has many similarities to Amazon itself in terms of products, although it reserves fashion for eBay.
  • Momox success keys

    • Digitize offline shopping habits: if your potential customers buy in a certain way, exporting that experience to the digital channel has many signs of success.
    • Do not compromise the business model: at Momox they are experts in selling second-hand products, but it was not until 2014 that they started selling clothes. They wanted to be comfortable enough and adapt their procedures before making the leap (and still kept the brands separate).
    • Sustainability: not everyone who buys used items online does it for the savings it usually entails; there is a real trend that bets on this type of consumption for responsibility. By reusing we reduce our ecological footprint. For this reason, in its website and app, we find the CO2 data that we are saving the environment with the purchase of that product.
    • Amortize their customer base: one of the first strategies they adopted was to carry out a campaign to communicate to their current customers that they were now also selling clothes. The success was such that they had to withdraw the momox.de offer because they could not absorb the demand.
    • Simplification of the sales process: we already said that there were only 3 steps and free shipping and return included. It is so easy that it has led them to receive 400 bags of clothes every day.
    • Low return rate: it is actually below the eCommerce standard for new products. Why? The explanation is simple: if we combine a lower price with the limited availability of product range - it is difficult to buy several sizes or colors and return the ones that do not convince us - customers lower their level of demand.
    • Attractive brands: the truth is that Momox is not a clothing brand. They sell third-party products that are sought after by customers. That aspirational and bargain-hunting component helps round out the shopping experience on this eCommerce platform.
    • Own photos: while the customer has no problem buying a used movie or disc as long as it works properly and, therefore, does not need to see a photograph of the product itself, in the case of clothing, not having a photograph of the garment itself can be a deterrent to the purchase. So there is no choice but to do a huge amount of manual work, which they do, and they do it very well.
    • Support in marketplaces: there is no denying that the type of product they sell is perfect for marketplaces like Amazon or eBay. They have known how to exploit this multichannel by complementing what they offer on their own website.
  • Did you know the story of Momox? Do you think that something similar would also work in the Spanish market? We would love to know your opinion.

  • Images | Momox, Unsplash.

Laia Ordoñez


Laia Ordóñez is a copywriting & eCommerce content marketing expert. She is Content & Marketing Manager at DueHome, a copywriting & content independent advisor, and Oleoshop's blog's editor-in-chief.

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