Let’s go thrift shopping: exploring circular business model innovation in fashion retail

The circular economy offers promising opportunities for the fashion industry to decouple revenue streams from resource use. To take advantage of these opportunities, this research investigates circular business model innovation and advances knowledge of what drives such innovation and how this process can be accelerated. In a collaborative setting, we developed and validated a circular business model that supports clothing reuse. Inspired by design-science and supported by business model theory, the model reveals patterns of circular business model innovation that revolve around consumer centricity as an innovation driver, the role of logistics as an innovation catalyst, and how these affect business model transition toward a circular economy. Thirteen business model-oriented propositions that elaborate theory are put forward based on these findings.