How ThredUp Processes 100,000 Items a Day with AI and Automation

What You’ll Learn

• Why sustainability wasn’t the initial growth lever and how ThredUp found product-market fit by prioritizing value and convenience.
• The pivotal shift from a peer-to-peer marketplace to an asset-backed resale model through bag-drop logistics.
• How ThredUp scaled partially automated distribution centers to process over 100,000 unique items daily.
• The key metrics that balance throughput, speed, and quality in large-scale resale operations.
• How generative AI and visual search transformed discovery, personalization, and customer confidence.
• The cultural practices — hackathons, AI bootcamps, and atomic building blocks — that sustain innovation and rapid adoption internally.
• How Resale-as-a-Service enables major brands like Madewell to run white-labeled resale programs powered by ThredUp’s technology and operations.

Highlights

• 00:00 – Introduction: Dan’s 15-year journey at ThredUp
• 02:00 – Why sustainability alone didn’t drive growth
• 04:00 – The bag-drop pivot: asset-backed vs. P2P resale
• 07:30 – Marketplace dynamics: limited buyer-seller overlap
• 09:00 – Jobs-to-be-done thinking & unlearning old models
• 12:00 – Scaling ops: from scrappy warehouses to the world’s largest clothing carousel
• 17:00 – Throughput vs. quality: metrics that matter
• 21:00 – AI-powered search & discovery: cottagecore to mermaidcore
• 26:30 – Internal AI adoption: hackathons & “atomic building blocks”
• 33:30 – Building a culture of innovation and infinite learning
• 36:30 – Resale-as-a-Service for brands like Madewell
• 39:30 – Future of shopping: agentic AI and frictionless commerce
• 42:00 – Shoptalk Fall preview + closing thoughts

Quotes

• [00:02:30]: “Even if someone cares about the planet... we did not find product-market fit. We had to work a lot early on to better understand the needs of both buyers and sellers.” - Dan DeMeyere
• [00:12:15]: “It was a little bit like jumping out of an airplane and just having trust in ourselves that we're gonna build or find a parachute before we hit the ground.” - Dan DeMeyere
• [00:20:30]: “Trust is so important, especially in the used space. We have to become clever in helping customers feel confident with the potential fit and flattery of every item.” - Dan DeMeyere
• [00:39:30]: “If your core experience can be improved through AI, why do you need to put ‘AI’ on the website? It’s about the value you bring, the job they’re hiring you for.” - Dan DeMeyere

About the Guest

Dan DeMeyere is the Chief Product and Technology Officer at ThredUp, a leading online resale platform pioneering sustainable fashion through technology and operational innovation. With 15 years at ThredUp starting from its inception, Dan has overseen the company’s evolution from a peer-to-peer marketplace into a high-velocity, AI-enabled resale giant processing over 100,000 items daily. He is passionate about customer-centric product development and leveraging AI to transform retail experiences at scale.

Links Mentioned

- ThredUp: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thredup/

- Dan DeMeyere on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dandemeyere/

👉 Don’t forget to join us at Shoptalk Fall, October 16–18 in Chicago!
🎟️ Grab your tickets here: https://fall.shoptalk.com/tickets

Featured Sessions at Shoptalk Fall:

• Harshida Acharya, Partner & CSO at Fulfillment IQ – Scenario Planning in a Volatile World
• Ninaad Acharya, Co-Founder & CEO at Fulfillment IQ – Supply Chain Agility in the Age of Disruption
• Dan DeMeyere, Chief Product and Technology Officer at ThredUp – Retail Intelligence: What AI Can – and Can’t – Do Today
• James Reinhar, Founder & CEO at ThredUp – Leading Through Culture Shifts

Check the full agenda here.

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