Secondhand Shoppers Finally Get Their Own AI Assistance

We’ve seen the powers of artificial intelligence harnessed to revolutionize several industries already, but one community you might not expect to embrace the latest technology — thrift shop enthusiasts — now has an AI app of its own.

A pair of industry insiders

Two men, both with impressive backgrounds in the tech industry, decided to join forces to create Encore. The AI-powered app is designed to make it easier for shoppers to find the secondhand items they’re looking for, a prospect that can be notoriously difficult given the constantly changing inventory many thrift shops and online resellers maintain.

But former Apple engineer Alex Ruber and former Twitter engineer Parth Chopra think they’ve found a solution. The two engineers discovered a common interest in thrifting and a common frustration with the state of online shopping and set out to work.

Encore’s founders say it can provide personalized prompts and responses to search queries of all types, whether basic or complicated. While the app won’t be able to comb through the racks at every neighborhood thrift shop, it will provide results from the biggest online platforms like Poshmark and eBay.

The model seems to be catching on, as evidenced by Encore’s growth statistics:

• The app processes more than 50,000 searches each month
• Its current monthly rate of growth for searches is about 26%
• Clicks on the platform are increasing by about 15% per month

Cashing in on a trend

Thrift shopping has gone from a cost-cutting necessity to a pastime with mass appeal in recent years, and Encore’s very existence is a testament to that trend.

Current projections indicate that the market will grow to $73 billion in the U.S. alone by the end of 2028. As early as next year, online sales are expected to make up half of those sales.

Chris Agee November 11th, 2024

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