Sneaker resale had a banner year in 2019.
Sneaker and streetwear resale platform StockX compiled a list of the shoe brands popular on the site last year, which hew to the tried-and-true approach of building new models and styles based on familiar silhouettes. Nike Air Force 1s and Jordan 1’s were joined by Adidas’ Yeezy 350 as the most sneaker popular styles of the year, while Supreme, Bape and Kith were the top three streetwear brands on StockX’s platform.
The entire sneaker resale market has been valued at somewhere between $2 billion and $6 billion in recent quarters, thanks to the explosive growth of platforms like StockX and its peers, including Goat. eBay, the original sneaker resale platform, has also redoubled its efforts to get back into the resale limelight, eliminating resale fees on sales exceeding $100.
StockX, however, is turning the page on 2020 by touting the accomplishments it logged last year. The company garnered more than $1 billion in gross merchandise volume (GMV) across those 12 months, StockX said in a new report, three years after co-founder and former CEO Josh Luber launched the startup with Dan Gilbert, Greg Schwartz and Chris Kaufman.
More than that, StockX—which is nothing without an engaged community of buyers and sellers—doubled its registry over the same period.
Much of the company’s individual success may be attributed to its popularity among Gen Z shoppers. About 60 percent of Gen Z males report using StockX, the company said, and 71 percent of the demographic said it was their preferred platform.
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However, sales of women-exclusive sneakers outpaced the total market by 80 percent in 2019, indicating the growing power of this group in the sneaker market. Smaller brands outside of the Nike and Adidas dichotomy saw some success last year as well, with New Balance cracking into the top seven brands with an average resale price of $223.
StockX focused efforts to expand its increasingly global platform on Europe and Asia, with an emphasis on diversifying its selection and product categories. Two of its newer categories, luxury and collectibles, grew by nearly 200 percent.
To demonstrate the platform’s now global reach, StockX said it processed sales in 197 countries and territories last year.
In June, StockX raised a $110 million Series C funding round that valued StockX at more than $1 billion, cementing the startup’s position as a “unicorn.” Prior to that, StockX opened a permanent store in New York’s Soho neighborhood to bring its services into the physical world for the first time after experimenting with popups.
StockX CEO Scott Cutler described 2019 as a “momentous” year. “We rapidly expanded our product lines, verticals and global footprint—all to better serve our growing platform and valued customers around the world,” he said.
“As the fastest-growing e-commerce marketplace of its kind, we are committed to leveraging the incredible learnings and momentum from 2019 while remaining focused on and excited by the significant growth opportunities in 2020,” Cutler added.