New B-to-B Croissant platform guarantees luxury cash value from the get-go

Reselling is not just a business, for a growing number of consumers it is a pre-purchase consideration.

The new Croissant business-to-business platform launched Thursday aims to turn resale into a sales tool compelling for new fashion shoppers just when they are considering a purchase.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, Croissant determines what a new luxury fashion product will be worth on the second-hand market, and then guarantees this future redemption value at the point of sale for its retail partners.

The start-up is launching from a $24 million funding round.< /p> Related Articles

This is a single, yet simple framework designed to solve a specific challenge: " How do you create a post-purchase touchpoint in the initial transaction?" explained Managing Director John Howard. "Because closing the sale is no longer enough. and AOV [Average Order Value], even that isn't good enough these days because the CAC [Customer Acquisition Costs] for these users keeps going up."

The logic is elegant in its simplicity, so much so that hearing it all might evoke the sound of an imaginary frontal slap.

Gadget-heads, for example, will often make initial purchasing decisions for consumer electronics based on phone, ultimate resale value of tablet or computer. Some people stick with iOS, macOS, iPadOS, and WearOS devices out of personal preference, but others stick with Apple's ecosystem because these gadgets typically fetch higher prices in trade-in or secondary markets.

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This behavior is not only familiar to Howard, a former investment banker whose eight years at investment firm KKR have steeped him in fintech, but also his team – including co-founder and chief technology officer John Klose and Vrishti Mongia, who landed at Croissant as chief product officer after stints at Meta and Moda Operandi as product manager. In fact, the platform is inspired by it.

Whether retail partners will get on board and have their own slap on the forehead remains to be seen . The startup will put the money in place during an online transaction, with the ability to redeem items directly from the customer before sending them to second-hand platforms such as Poshmark, DePop, ThredUp, The RealReal and others. /p>

"We are not a retail site ourselves,...