Dive Brief:

• Poshmark, an online social commerce platform, on Tuesday announced its expansion into the home category. Users will be able to use the in-app marketplace to buy and sell home decor, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
• Inventory categories will feature accents, wall art, holiday, bedding, bath, party supplies, office, and storage and organization. Products within these categories will include accent pillows, coffee table books, door mats, wallpaper, display shelves, garland, ornaments, comforters, towels, cake toppers, gift wrap, stationery and jewelry organizers, among other things.
• Poshmark allowed sellers to begin uploading products in the home category beginning May 30 in order to build out its offerings before the official June 11 launch, a company spokesperson told Retail Dive. Additionally, the company said, like products in its other categories, items sold on the Home Market will be supported by Poshmark tools, including Posh Protect, Post Post and Posh Authenticate.

Dive Insight:

With its latest product expansion, Poshmark said it is taking on the $582 billion home decor market.

"With the launch of the Home Market, we're taking our first step into broader lifestyle categories and expanding our social marketplace beyond the closet," CEO and founder Manish Chandra said in a statement. "This Market launch reiterates the power of Posh Markets to scale social commerce and enables Poshmark to continue transforming the e-commerce experience."

Legacy players have ramped up their own home goods offerings recently, as well. Walmart, for instance, revamped its online Walmart Home destination and unveiled its first mattress and bedding brand, Allswell, about a year ago. More recently, the big box retailer unveiled two new private labels in the home category: Flower Home in collaboration with Drew Barrymore, and online furniture brand MoDRN.

The resale market, and the circular economy more broadly, have also become more popular lately. A recent report from Accenture Strategy and Fashion For Good found that for luxury markets, the operating margin for rental was 61%, 30% for subscription rental and 39% for recommerce. Additionally, online resale marketplace ThredUp found that the resale market has grown 21 times faster over the past three years than the retail apparel market, and it's projected to reach $51 billion by 2023.

Retailers have taken note. Neiman Marcus in April took a minority stake in resale site Fashionphile. Direct-to-consumer furniture brands Feather and Fernish have built business models around renting furniture, and more recently Ikea has expanded its furniture leasing program to 30 markets. Rent the Runway earlier this year also acknowledged the value in the home segment by forming a partnership with West Elm to rent soft good home furnishings.

A prior study from OC&C Strategy Consultants found that 15% of Gen Zers are committed to "reducing the amount of waste I create," 14% to "reducing my carbon footprint" and 13% to "reducing use of single-use plastic." As this generation comes of age and begins looking for items to furnish dorms and first apartments, venturing into the home category may bode well for Poshmark.