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4.8 on Clutch

ThredUp

Fashion resales marketplace

E-commerce / The USA 2018–ongoing

Syndicode engineers joined ThredUP’s core team to amplify the company’s digital transformation efforts.

Services

  • Web development
  • Ruby on Rails development

Technologies

  • Ruby on Rails
  • React.js
  • Redis
  • Sidekiq
  • RSpec
  • SCSS
  • Amazon AWS
  • REST API/GraphQL
  • Postgres 11

About the client

A well-established business based in the USA recognized the need to scale up its Ruby on Rails team. They sought to delegate entirely the platform’s technical maintenance and enhancement responsibilities.

Shortly after we began our collaboration, the company greatly expanded its R&D department and reached a business value of $1.3 million.

 

About the product

ThredUP is one of the largest online marketplaces for second-hand apparel, footwear, and accessories. It promotes sustainable fashion by motivating its users to use fashion items gently and to sell those they no longer need. 

Additionally, it offers a resale service to major fashion retailers, enhancing the movement towards sustainability in the fashion industry and waste reduction. Overall, the platform is focused on fostering a circular clothing ecosystem powered by advanced technologies.

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Highlights

Solution delivered

Syndicode enhanced ThredUP’s platform by optimizing legacy code, improving supplier workflows, automating processes, and implementing digital transformation. This boosted the platform’s efficiency and supported ThredUP’s rapid growth and IPO success.

Challenges overcome

The main challenge was updating and maintaining ThredUP’s complex tech stack without disrupting the platform’s operation. Syndicode’s engineers solved this by skillfully implementing workarounds to replace legacy code with modern solutions and automate workflows while preserving functionality.

Business problem solved

ThredUP struggled with scaling operations and supplier inefficiencies. Our team eliminated manual processes to unleash business growth, updated the platform’s design, optimized its performance to enhance user experience, and implemented new features to align the platform with modern technological advancements and customer expectations.

Client’s challenges

Difficulties in scaling operations

ThredUp experienced significant growth and faced challenges in supporting the company’s operations, which relied heavily on advanced technology and a complex tech stack that included Ruby on Rails as a primary backend technology.

The absence of a team dedicated to maintaining and refining supply chain processes led to bottlenecks, increased operational costs, and difficulties in managing higher volumes of listings and transactions.

 

Inefficiencies in supplier onboarding

Without a team focused on optimizing the supplier experience, thredUP faced inefficiencies in onboarding new suppliers, providing adequate support, and retaining them. This delayed the company’s growth rate in inventory and affected the quality and variety of items available on the platform.

 

Limited supply-side innovation

ThredUp lacked skilled hands to implement new features and processes that could enhance user satisfaction and engagement.

Our solutions

Development and optimization of legacy code

The Syndicode team updated and optimized old code and fixed technical issues. This improved the overall system’s speed and security while also helping the platform grow smoothly. Moreover, our work made it easier to add new features without major disruptions in the platform’s operation.

 

Improved supplier workflow

Syndicode made it much easier for suppliers to order clean-out kits. Originally, this process was cumbersome and presented a conversion bottleneck. Our team streamlined the procedure by redesigning the form and making it simpler and friendlier to use. 

This improved user satisfaction and lowered the chances of sellers leaving the website before finishing their order.

 

Digital transformation

We gave sellers the option to generate online labels for their shipments. This move allowed them to skip waiting for a physical clean-out kit, allowing brands to use their own packaging while keeping the process of sending items back to ThredUp easy. 

This change not only made the selling process more convenient but also supported thredUp’s efforts to be more sustainable by cutting down on the use of extra plastic bags.

Workflow automation

Syndicode automated the workflow for receiving, processing, and assigning parcels to specific users. This reduced the need for manual intervention in the supply chain, resulting in quicker processing, fewer mistakes, and better efficiency overall for ThredUp.

Technical setup

  • Ruby on Rails provides a strong framework for updating old code, making it easier to modify and expand the website’s functionality; 
  • React.js simplifies managing updates and states throughout the application, enhancing the speed and responsiveness of the thredUP platform and improving user experience;
  • Redis boosts website speed by managing sessions, caching frequently accessed data, and reducing database strain;
  • Sidekiq efficiently handles background tasks such as sending emails, batch imports, and other asynchronous processes, which helps improve the platform’s performance;
  • RSpec ensures the website stays bug-free and functions correctly as new features are added or the codebase is updated;
  • SCSS has enhanced the visual appeal and consistency of the ThredUP website;
  • Amazon AWS supports the platform’s growth and boosts performance and reliability by dynamically adjusting the infrastructure based on user traffic and data load;
  • REST API/GraphQL makes the interaction between thredUP’s frontend and backend smoother, improving data retrieval and reducing bandwidth;
  • Postgres 11 facilitates complex queries and transactions essential for managing the platform’s extensive inventory and transaction data reliably.

Result

Since we started working together, ThredUP has successfully raised an impressive $168 million through its Initial Public Offering (IPO). Moreover, the company reached a valuation of nearly $1.3 billion. Additionally, it managed to sell 12 million shares, each priced at $14.

Syndicode’s experts continue playing a crucial role in refining the platform’s pricing, logistics, and inventory management. They offer valuable insights, allowing ThredUP to spot opportunities for boosting profits and enhancing the user experience, along with rolling out new features and processes. 

Overall, our involvement has significantly accelerated the introduction of new features, thanks to the adoption of efficient workflows and collaboration techniques.

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