Depop: User to User

Depop is a Direct to Consumer, London-based mobile marketplace app, described as being a "peer-to-peer social shopping app." It's a place where you can be a buyer or seller; in a way that's a little similar to Ebay or Facebook Marketplace. It's typically used by a younger generation for street fashion or vintage wear as an alternative to fast fashion or new clothes; since it's usually recycled or previous used articles of clothing. It's value proposition is about creating a space for sellers, typically younger people looking to turn this into a "side hustle" a place to sell clothes and other fashion items. 

There are mostly good things being said about Depop, as it's community hails it as a great place for them to have a base for their business. Dominic Haley with AW360 says "The community is at the heart of Depop’s success. The app is probably best described as a hybrid between Instagram and eBay, where sellers and customers alike can come together, share images, sell and buy items of clothing. Hailed as an antidote to wasteful fast-fashion, the company has revitalized the market for secondhand clothing, attracting a vibrant, socially conscious audience in the process." It's seen as a alternative to wasteful fashion and a place where consumers can be a little more conscious about the wasteful nature of their purchases; seeing as most things sold there are second-hand. 

It's a pretty easy app for the younger generation to navigate, and if you look up their hashtag on any site you'll see thousands and thousands of posts sharing their wares across the internet. It's layout functions similarly to Instagram's allowing even new users to potentially find some familiartly with the app. People have a lot of freedom to do what they like on the app, giving sellers a lot more control over what they sell  and who they sell it to. However, this apparently has led to some concerns. 

One of the few negative things I hear about Depop is some of the people find their way on there to do things other than buy and sell clothes. Chavie Lieber from Business of Fashion says " as the app’s user base has swelled, so have complaints about inappropriate and even predatory behavior." The private message function of the app, meant to discuss purchases and sales, has been used by some to make unsolicited comments or requests. 

However, the bad comments about Depop seem to be about things generally out of the company's marketing control, while all the good seems to stem directly from it. the easy use of the app stems from it's design coming from other apps it's base is already familiar with. Additionally, they know that giving their users a little freedom will essentially create it's own advertising; as users promote their wares on the app, it draws in new buyers and users of the app. They allow users to engage users on the website, which pulls a lot of it's own weight in the end. Most of Depop's growth is due to word of mouth. Yoann Pavy, one of the leads with Depop, says: "I see it as our job to always represent Depop’s community. We work on the principle that if they succeed, we succeed." 

If I were part of the marketing team at Depop, I would run with the word of mouth strategy. I would find ways to allow users to promote themselves not only on the app itself, but through other social media sites besides simply sharing them there. Working with social media influencers could also bring in more traffic to the site, as continuing to target younger generations with this idea is definitely the way to go. 

I learned that word of mouth and allowing users to interact and sell to other users can really grow. Virality is a huge success on the internet, and allowing a good space for your users to share themselves, and in the end you, can be very successful.