Generic eCommerce platforms no longer meet younger consumers’ expectations
The world is changing fast. Today’s younger generation, the students, early professionals, and digital natives, aren’t shopping the same way, and yet most eCommerce systems still push a generic, convenience-driven model that worked a decade ago. The “one-size-fits-all” approach is outdated. These consumers have grown up personalizing everything in their lives, from their newsfeeds to their social circles. They want the same from the platforms they buy from.
They’re asking for relevance. Not just faster checkout or free shipping. They want spaces that reflect their identity, their values, their communities, their financial realities. And when platforms fail to offer that, they move on. This is important because it’s not about whether a product is technically available online or if delivery is fast. It’s about recognition. Does the platform feel like it’s built for them, for now, on their terms?
Convenience used to be the differentiator. Now it’s just the foundation. If you’re a C-suite executive in retail, consumer goods, or marketplaces, this is a signal. Consumers will no longer engage deeply with a product ecosystem that is transactional, impersonal, and blind to what matters locally and culturally.
The result is simple to grasp: brands and platforms that adapt will scale loyalty in ways that go beyond metrics. And those that stick to the one-size-fits-no-one approach will lose touch with the next wave of customers.
Broad discount-driven strategies harm both brands and consumers
Discounting used to be a tool, a tactical lever to stimulate demand or clear inventory. Now it’s a baseline expectation. And that’s killing the economics. Brands are losing margin upfront before customers even use the product. Add that to a saturated discount directory and your branding becomes background noise. You’re just another option on a long list of cheap deals that mean nothing.
The problem runs deeper. This race-to-the-bottom pricing strategy not only drains brand equity but also ruins product value in the long term. If everything’s always on sale, the brand disappears. And worse, it disconnects the brand from its future customer base.
Looking at students again, this group does respond to price. But when lower prices come at the cost of trust and quality, it stops being a deal. Generic platforms, especially peer-to-peer marketplaces, are full of counterfeit products, failed payments, and low-quality user experiences. Buyers lose confidence. Sellers lose reputation. Everyone loses time. For context, 46% of students who were scammed online cited purchase fraud as the cause. That includes fake goods, payments that failed, or sellers who never showed up.
So brands and consumers are stuck in a loop. On one side, companies are forfeiting profitability and branding just to move stock. On the other, buyers, especially students, are left navigating cluttered platforms with minimal safety. It’s inefficient across the board.
The message here is sharp: discounts don’t build loyalty. Trust does. Relevance does. Personalized experience does. And it’s time brands start investing in those instead of chasing the next markdown.
Overproduction and excess inventory intensify profitability and sustainability challenges
One of the least discussed but most damaging problems in retail, particularly fashion, is surplus production. In 2023, the industry created between 2.5 and 5 billion surplus items. These aren’t samples or defective units. These are finished products, fully manufactured, branded, and warehoused, never reaching consumers. That’s not just wasteful, it’s a massive commercial liability.
When these products hit clearance channels, their value drops sharply. Brands lose 25% to 32% before even adding warehousing, disposal, or logistic costs. That’s a losing equation. Added to this is increasing pressure from regulatory bodies. The EU is enacting tougher rules on textile waste. It’s no longer optional to address this issue, it’s required.
What’s often labeled a sustainability problem is also a financial one. Inventory that sits too long becomes a cost center, not an asset. CFOs and CMOs alike need to refocus on inventory management and demand prediction with far greater precision. The price of holding excess stock is rising, not just in operational overhead, but in brand reputation and compliance risk.
C-suite executives should also look beyond cost-containment. The solution isn’t to bury the problem inside discount campaigns. It’s to deploy smarter distribution strategies, work with relevant platforms, and rethink the production-to-sale pipeline entirely. The better you match velocity with volume, the more space you create for innovation and sustainable growth.
Traditional resale approaches are falling short in forming authentic connections
Brands trying to create secondary sales pathways, such as launching white-label resale platforms or partnering with third-party marketplaces like eBay, are making progress when it comes to liquidity. The problem is, liquidity doesn’t equal loyalty. Just because product moves, doesn’t mean brand equity grows.
Self-operated resale sites, like those from Patagonia or The North Face, do offer more control and align better with environmental values. But they don’t always scale community or relevance. Students don’t just want to buy low-cost items, they want to buy from platforms that feel like they belong to their culture, their lifestyle, their era.
Meanwhile, resale via large peer-to-peer networks is efficient in terms of scale, but lacks in quality assurance and cultural alignment. This creates a gap. The platforms help sell surplus, but they rarely establish meaningful connections with emerging audiences. And they don’t offer the type of curated experiences students are increasingly seeking.
The missing element is cultural relevance. If a platform doesn’t speak the user’s language, visually, socially, emotionally, it becomes just another transactional site. Brands need to understand this. It’s not enough to list items in a broader marketplace. To grow loyalty, you need to participate in spaces where the context matches the consumer’s mindset.
C-suite leadership needs to think beyond channel access. Consider the depth of engagement and alignment. Brands that sell within purpose-built ecosystems, platforms grounded in values and segmentation, are the ones positioned to build long-term relationships with the next generation of customers.
Curated, values-based marketplaces offer a more effective way to engage with students
Most brands are missing the signal. Young consumers don’t just want cheaper goods. They want platforms that speak their language. Curated, student-focused marketplaces aren’t just sales channels, they’re context-driven ecosystems built around how students live, spend, and engage. These platforms prioritize relevance, identity, and trust. That’s what sets them apart from the default model most brands cling to.
When a product appears during a meaningful moment in the student calendar, Freshers’ Week, final exams, graduation, it does more than prompt a purchase. It enhances connection. What matters to students is that the timing and context make sense. This changes perception. It positions the brand as present, genuine, and part of their world.
The benefit runs in both directions. Students access known brands at reduced prices without trading off credibility or safety. Meanwhile, brands get to release excess inventory in a curated environment that doesn’t degrade their value or overwhelm the buyer. The result is better conversion, stronger recall, and fewer compromises on experience.
Offline engagement still plays a role. Physical activations, when rooted in culture, not just branded freebies, still resonate. Brands that collaborate with students instead of just marketing to them see more traction. These aren’t stunts. These are targeted programs that align with who students are and what they care about right now.
For C-suite leaders, this is about long-term positioning. Brands that rely on generic listings and discounts will draw price-conscious behavior. Brands that show up with targeted intent will build loyalty. And loyalty is how you extend lifetime value and build sustainable momentum.
These targeted platforms offer long-term strategic and sustainability advantages for brands
Curated marketplaces aren’t just tailored, they’re strategic. They help brands shift inventory without eroding brand equity. They allow entry into high-potential demographics, like students, without pulling attention from full-price channels. And they create new ways to meet sustainability benchmarks in a concrete, defensible way.
When brands distribute through student-led, values-aligned platforms, they solve multiple challenges at once. Surplus becomes an opportunity. Waste is reduced. Engagement rises. And these benefits are achieved without greenwashing or dilution of the core brand. More importantly, these platforms allow for control over brand perception during the resale or clearance process, something traditional clearance models don’t offer.
Importantly, these environments give brands direct access to early-stage consumer loyalty. Students are ideal long-term customer segments. They are at the beginning of their earning and spending cycles. If the first brand encounter happens in a trusted, relevant setting, the likelihood of ongoing loyalty increases significantly.
This is a fundamental shift in thinking. CFOs, CMOs, and sustainability heads need to be aligned. We are moving toward a model where high-impact results depend on the quality of the platform, not just the price or scale of the transaction. These marketplace engagements support revenue, brand equity, and broader ESG goals in tandem.
For leadership, the perspective should be clear: smart distribution is no longer about clearing shelves fastest, it’s about amplifying value in the places that matter most.
The next generation demands connection over mere convenience
Students aren’t waiting for better platforms, they’re choosing them. The generational shift we’re seeing is active, not theoretical. This audience is selecting services, products, and platforms based not only on cost or functionality, but on whether they feel understood. That’s why platforms that prioritize connection, cultural, social, ethical, are outperforming transactional alternatives.
Convenience is still required. But it’s no longer the primary differentiator. For the next generation of consumers, emotional alignment carries more weight. If the platform, brand voice, or customer experience feels irrelevant or tone-deaf, engagement drops off, regardless of utility or discounts.
Brand leaders need to internalize this shift. Connection now plays the role that convenience used to. Brands that integrate into existing student cultures, through timed campaigns, curated product drops, or collaborative events, aren’t just present. They’re part of the narrative.
More importantly, these connections build long-term economic value. When someone forms a habit or preference in their early consumption years, it informs lasting loyalty. That should matter across every department, from marketing to operations to finance.
For C-suite executives thinking about next steps, consider where your brand sits in relation to this expectation. If you’re not actively adding connection points across touchpoints, not just in what you sell, but how you show up, you’re giving up ground. The next growth cycle will belong to the companies that make relevance and resonance core metrics.
Relevant Data or Research: No specific quantitative data cited here, but the trend reflects broad consumer behavior shifts outlined throughout, especially the 70% preference for specialized marketplaces and the growing demand for identity-aligned platforms.
Final thoughts
What worked before won’t work next. The next generation isn’t passively waiting to be sold to, they’re deciding where, how, and why they engage. And they’re clear about what matters: trust, relevance, and platforms that reflect their identity. If your brand feels distant, transactional, or interchangeable, you’ll struggle to stay in the conversation, let alone top-of-mind.
For executives, this isn’t just a marketing issue, it’s a strategic one. Growth now depends on aligning with values, not just pushing product. Meeting students where they are, with intent and cultural awareness, opens lasting loyalty at the earliest stages of the consumer journey. That’s smart business.
Discounts might move inventory, but they don’t build brand equity. Relevance does. And platforms built around purpose, like Hazaar, are showing what that future looks like in real time. The companies that adapt fast will lock in the next cycle of growth. The ones that don’t will be optimized out.
