The RealReal is a retail company founded by Julie Wainwright in 2011. The company operates a vast warehouse in Brisbane, California where second-hand luxury items are being taken, and they are arranging the items in the warehouse to keep track of their customer orders. As the chief executive officer of the company, Julie Wainwright has to think about decisions that would keep her business on the surface, and one of her approach to assist with the company’s growth would be the promotion of their business to a greater market. The company has two primary clients in their business structure – the customers, and the consignees. The customers are the ones who browse through their website and choose the luxury items that they wanted for private purchase. The consignees, on the other hand, are the ones who sell their luxury goods in exchange for money. The customer-consignee cycle could also happen, with a customer buying a certain number of items for a specific season and later selling it after the season is over. The unique business approach from the company established by Julie Wainwright allowed them to become one of the leaders in the pre-owned luxury retail industry, and they have created a huge network of connections that will help the business grow further.
Julie Wainwright highlighted that the company’s main goals are to provide a safer place for people to get their hands on luxury goods. The founder of the company stated that there have been a lot of times when people bought fake goods online, and they could no longer bring their money back because of the fake merchandise sold to them. With The RealReal, Julie Wainwright assures their clients that what they will be receiving is an authentic item from the largest luxury brands on the planet like Gucci, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, and Versace, among others.
The company started in the retail industry by selling pre-owned clothing and accessories, but with the rising number of people who are trying to purchase an item from the company, Julie Wainwright decided that they should also include fine jewelry, watches, and artworks on the list of items that they sell. It resulted in the creation of more than a thousand consigners who are constantly working with the company to ensure that they will be able to sell their items to millions catered by the company. The huge demand for luxury items can be observed inside their warehouses, where two to four thousand pieces of luxury products are being processed every day. To help the company with authenticating their products, they hire people who are experts in spotting out fake ones.
The RealReal is dedicated to protecting their brand name, and they were fairly surprised after hearing about the case being prepared by Chanel because of their unauthorized reselling of items that carry its brand name. Julie Wainwright stated that they will be facing Chanel in court, and they will also fight for their right to sell pre-owned items from Chanel and other luxury brands. They also denied the allegations that they are selling fake products, stated that authenticity is their number one priority and they will never destroy their name for a single brand.
Despite the corporate Issues faced by Julie Wainwright, she continues to encourage the people to buy luxury brands from their stores. Their partnership with other consignees, who own popular brands like Gucci, Supreme, and Prada, among others, is also expected to transform the way the company deals with their business partners. Julie Wainwright made the right decision when she was thinking about a business that she wanted to establish, and it helped her become a successful entrepreneur.
