Abstract
As the fashion industry moves toward a circular economy, retail is evolving beyond a simple point of sale to become a hub for sustainability and long-term product care. This study explores how aftercare services, including repair, maintenance, and second-life initiatives, help brands shift from one-time transactions to servicedriven customer relationships. By analyzing a diverse range of fashion brands, the research identifies six different aftercare models, each offering varying levels of digitization, channel integration, service coverage, process transparency, brand control, and customer autonomy. The findings highlight that aftercare is more than just a post-purchase service—it is a key strategy for circularity, strengthening consumer engagement and brand sustainability commitments.
Keywords
aftercare services; retail servitization; circular economy; product lifecycle extension
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drsf.115
Citation
Spagnoli, A., Bonfim Bandeira, F., Anceschi, C.,and Iannilli, V.M.(2025) Beyond Purchase: Aftercare Services as a Driver of Sustainable Fashion Retail, in Quartier, K., Iannilli, V. M., Spagnoli, A., Elli, T., Prinsloo, I. (eds.), Designing Retail & Services Futures Colloquium: Sustainable Retail and Services Futures, 14–15 May, Milan, Italy. https://doi.org/10.21606/drsf.115
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Full Papers
Beyond Purchase: Aftercare Services as a Driver of Sustainable Fashion Retail
As the fashion industry moves toward a circular economy, retail is evolving beyond a simple point of sale to become a hub for sustainability and long-term product care. This study explores how aftercare services, including repair, maintenance, and second-life initiatives, help brands shift from one-time transactions to servicedriven customer relationships. By analyzing a diverse range of fashion brands, the research identifies six different aftercare models, each offering varying levels of digitization, channel integration, service coverage, process transparency, brand control, and customer autonomy. The findings highlight that aftercare is more than just a post-purchase service—it is a key strategy for circularity, strengthening consumer engagement and brand sustainability commitments.