M&S links with Dotte for kidswear resale, invests in the business

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 5, 2022

M&S is the latest kidswear retailer to link up with resale platform Dotte. But its deal is more than a product one as it has also invested in the firm.

The investment has been made through its start-up accelerator Founder’s Factory. No monetary figures were available. The link-up is at a trial stage for now. 

M&S has been investigating more circular options for clothing in recent periods and late last year launched a rental trial with Hirestreet.

As far as resale is concerned, the link-up will see M&S customers using the Dotte platform to buy and sell their unwanted and outgrown kidswear. For that they get money from the sales (averaging around 50% of the retail price) plus a £5 voucher towards their next £25 shop.

Dotte has been making a big impact in recent periods, despite having only been founded in 2020 by Louise Weiss and Samantha Valentine.

The platform had 16 kidswear brand partners forming the Resale Collective until M&S joined as the 17th, as well as hosting a vast range of labels on the site. Its growth has come as it released figures showing 183.6 million items of children’s clothing end up in landfill annually.

The M&S deal is particularly significant for Dotte as it’s the biggest brand yet to join its ranks and M&S has a major share of the children’s clothing market in the UK.

Alice Duggan, Head of M&S Kidswear said: “We design and make our products so that the M&S label means quality – product that can be handed down — because we believe style shouldn’t cost the earth. Pre-loved selling is a growing market and through joining the Dotte resale collective we’re looking forward to learning more from an agile start-up and supporting the circular economy. Through the platform we also hope to extend our customer reach as we continue make M&S kidswear more relevant more often for customers and the ‘go to’ destination store and website.

Samantha Valentine, Co-Founder at Dotte added: “Having a trusted kidswear retailer like M&S onboard signals a huge step change in the industry itself, and the fact that they are rewarding their customers for selling M&S kidswear will encourage so many more families to get involved in the circular economy.”