As consumers increasingly prioritise sustainability, transparency, and circularity, DPPs and Digital IDs empower brands to meet these expectations while creating new revenue streams and building long-term customer relationships. This article explores how brands can leverage these technologies for growth, efficiency, and sustainability.

 

1. Tap into Resale and Secondary Markets

With the global resale market projected to reach $77 billion by 2025, resale presents a valuable business opportunity for fashion brands to meet consumer demand for sustainable fashion. Digital IDs embedded in products allow easy authenticity verification on secondary markets, ensuring buyers can trust the product’s origin, history, and condition.

Brands can leverage this trend in two primary ways:

• In-house resale platforms: Brands like Patagonia and Burberry have launched proprietary resale programs, using Digital IDs to control the product lifecycle and authenticate items. These platforms generate new revenue streams while reinforcing brand values centred on sustainability.
• Third-party resale partnerships: Smaller brands can partner with established resale platforms, such as The RealReal or Vestiaire Collective, to tap into authenticated second-hand markets without building proprietary systems.

With DPPs and Digital IDs, brands can also benefit from consumer-to-consumer (C2C) resale, allowing buyers to trade products with verified authenticity, further appealing to quality-conscious, eco-minded consumers.

Digital IDs simplify resale and provide verified authenticity for consumers.

 

2. Enable Repair and Recycling Services for Circularity

DPPs offer rich product details, like material composition and care instructions, that support repair and recycling. These Digital IDs allow consumers and recycling services to access essential product data, supporting longer product lifecycles aligned with circular economy principles.

Brands can leverage this information to:

• Offer in-house or partnered repair services: Using product data, brands can direct consumers toward repair services. For example, Eileen Fisher’s repair services and RENEW resale program showcase their commitment to sustainable fashion, extending garment lifespans while building loyalty among eco-conscious customers.
• Launch take-back programs: Incentivizing returns for recycling or resale promotes brand loyalty and reduces waste. Programs by brands like Adidas and H&M reward customers for recycling used products, which, in turn, enhances sustainability goals.

Recycling services also benefit: Digital IDs provide recycling facilities with precise material data, supporting fibre-to-fibre recycling by allowing efficient extraction and reuse of high-quality fibres.

Digital IDs support enhanced repair information and services for extended product life.

 

3. Enhance Customer Engagement through Data-Driven Transparency

Digital IDs enable brands to build deeper connections with consumers by offering real-time product data for a personalised experience. Sharing origin stories, production details, and sustainability metrics with customers boosts transparency and fosters trust.

Key engagement strategies include:

• Sustainability storytelling: Brands like Everlane and Adidas use Digital IDs to share information about product origins, manufacturing, and environmental impact, setting themselves apart as leaders in transparency.
• Product care guidance: Maintenance tips embedded in Digital IDs encourage consumers to care for their items, extending product lifespan and enhancing the brand’s image as a sustainability advocate.
• Loyalty programs: By tracking product ownership and usage, brands can create personalised loyalty programs, rewarding customers who engage with sustainable practices such as repairs and take-back schemes.

Digital IDs enable a much richer experience and deeper engagement for consumers.

 

4. Optimise Inventory and Supply Chain Management

For brands looking to streamline their supply chains, Digital IDs provide extensive real-time data, enhancing inventory accuracy, minimising waste, and reducing costs. This data supports true omnichannel experiences—including BORIS (Buy Online, Return In Store) and BOPIS (Buy Online, Pick-Up In Store)—that align with customer expectations for flexibility and convenience.

Key benefits include:

• Accurate Stock Control (99%+): Brands like Nike use Digital IDs to monitor inventory across all locations, reducing overstock and ensuring optimised logistics, ultimately enhancing supply chain efficiency.
• Omnichannel experiences: Digital IDs allow brands to offer flexible shopping and returns, creating a seamless omnichannel experience. Zara, for example, lets customers buy online, pick up in-store, or return items to physical locations. This approach increases customer satisfaction while efficiently managing inventory across channels.
• Streamlined checkout and POS: Digital IDs enable efficient in-store and online experiences by allowing customers to verify authenticity, access product details, and make purchases using their devices, creating a smooth, consistent checkout process.
• Enhanced loss prevention: Digital IDs improve product tracking, enabling brands to detect unauthorised distribution or theft, which is particularly valuable in retail settings.

Digital IDs enhance inventory accuracy, minimising waste and reducing labour and inventory costs.

 

5. Embrace Circularity with Extended Product Lifecycles

DPPs and Digital IDs offer transformative potential by supporting a circular economy where products remain in circulation for as long as possible. Tracking a product’s lifecycle through resale, rental, repair, and recycling enables brands to keep items in use longer, reducing waste and reliance on virgin materials.

Opportunities to support circularity include:

• Monetizing products multiple times: Brands can generate revenue while minimising waste through resale, rental, and recycling programs. For example, Nike’s rental service for high-performance gear allows customers to return or exchange items after use, contributing to the circular economy.
• Ownership of recycled materials: With detailed data on material composition, brands can reclaim high-quality recycled fibres for future production, lowering costs and reducing the environmental impact of sourcing virgin materials.

Access more transactions and revenue opportunities by embracing circularity.

Conclusion: Leading Fashion into the Future with Digital IDs and DPPs

Integrating Digital Product Passports and Digital IDs into business models offers fashion brands far more than regulatory compliance. These innovations open doors to new revenue streams, stronger customer engagement, and improved operational efficiency.

By embracing these technologies, brands can lead the shift towards a more sustainable, circular fashion industry. The ability to rent, resell, repair, and recycle products, combined with personalised customer experiences, will shape the future of fashion, offering a competitive edge to brands ready to adapt to an evolving market.

As the fashion industry transforms, Digital Product Passports and Digital IDs will redefine how brands interact with consumers, manage supply chains, and support sustainability. Early adopters will set new standards in an increasingly eco-conscious market, proving compliance can drive innovation.

This article is the latest instalment in our ongoing series exploring the transformative potential of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) and Digital IDs for the fashion industry. Each article has focused on different aspects of DPP implementation, from overcoming initial challenges to creating new business models that align with consumer values and regulatory requirements. Stay tuned for our next article, which examines how, as the industry shifts from the traditional "Take-Make-Dispose" model to a Circular Economy, DPPs serve as critical tools to extend product lifecycles and improve resource efficiency, offering further insights to help brands stay at the forefront of sustainable and innovative fashion.

 

JBSO Group can help

Is your brand ready to unlock the potential of DPPs and Digital IDs? At JBSO Group, we help brands navigate the challenges of DPP implementation and leverage these innovations to build sustainable, profitable, and consumer-focused business models. Our expert guidance can empower your brand to stay compliant, reduce operational costs, and transform consumer relationships through sustainability-driven innovation.

Contact JBSO Group to discover how we can help your brand lead the way in sustainable fashion and create lasting impact in an eco-conscious world.

 

JBSO Group can help

For brands looking to leverage the strategic potential of DPPs, reach out to JBSO Group for expert insights and guidance on integrating this transformative technology into your business model.

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Author Chris Jones

Chris has helped global brands, retailers, and manufacturers align people, processes, and technology for over three decades, driving transformation projects to maximise business impact.

This article is also published on the JBSO Group website:

Unlocking New Business Models with Digital IDs in Digital Product Passports (www.jbso.group)

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