Ox Street Joins Carousell Group as It Sets Sights on the US$10 Billion Sneaker Resale Market in Greater Southeast Asia

SINGAPORE – Media
OutReach – 15 November 2021 – Carousell
Group, the leading classifieds group in the Greater Southeast Asian
region, has announced that it has acquired Ox Street,
one of the fastest growing end-to-end marketplaces for authenticated sneakers
and streetwear in Southeast Asia, as it sets sights on the US$10 billion
sneaker resale market in Greater Southeast Asia.

What started as an underground
movement has quickly become mainstream with sneakers emerging as one of the
must-haves in men’s accessories. In fact, in 2020, the total global sneaker
market revenue was valued at approximately US$70 billion and was forecasted to
reach a value of US$102 billion by 2025¹. Within Southeast Asia, the
forecasted yearly growth is over 20%, double the global average.

The partnership reflects Carousell’s
deep commitment to reimagining the classifieds experience, with a focus on
trust and convenience, to make secondhand the first choice. The Ox Street team
inspects and authenticates every pair of sneakers before it reaches its buyers.
Carousell’s advanced and intuitive technology, extensive reach, and marketplace
liquidity across a wide range of categories, combined with Ox Street’s
authentication capabilities will further propel the mutual goal of creating an
experience where transacting secondhand is as convenient and trusted as buying
first hand.

Leveraging Ox Street’s strong domain
expertise in the streetwear industry, Carousell intends to deepen its reach and
scale to become a market leader for fashion and luxury goods. It will also
allow both marketplaces to capture the growth of the Greater Southeast Asian
market across sneakers and more emerging categories driven by Gen Z trends.

The demand for sneakers on both
platforms are growing, especially among male users. 70% of Ox Street users are
male who spend on average $400 per pair. While on Carousell, 28% of  men’s footwear is sold for US$100 to $250,
double that of women’s footwear.

“We are excited to partner with Gijs
and team in our mission to inspire the world to start selling. We share common
values in being user-first and in building communities, as evidenced by the
brand love they have created amongst their dedicated community of sneakerheads
and fashion enthusiasts, especially amongst the Gen Z. They have also built
trust by authenticating every pair of sneakers that gets transacted on the Ox
Street marketplace. We see immense opportunity in bringing that capability and
their learnings to double down on our recommerce efforts. Most of all, we see
this acquisition as joining forces to accelerate our shared vision of making
secondhand the first choice.” said Quek Siu Rui, Co-founder and CEO of
Carousell.

“We initially started a conversation
with Carousell on partnering up to provide authentication as a service for
sneakers, but as discussions progressed we found so much common ground in how
we see the future, that we decided it would be much more powerful for Ox Street
to fully join the Carousell group. Our focus markets align nearly 1 to 1, and
in these markets Carousell was actually the first, and remains the largest
marketplace for sneakers and streetwear. We started Ox Street to bring a more
seamless experience to buying and selling in these categories, and it’s very
exciting that we can now continue building our vision for this space on a much
larger scale.

With Carousell’s reach and
technological capabilities, we can supercharge Ox Street’s ability to innovate
and reach more buyers and sellers. Last but not least, we have a lot of shared
values and found a very strong cultural fit, and I cannot be more excited to
partner with Siu Rui, Marcus, Lucas and the entire Carousell team.” said Gijs
Verheijke, the Founder and CEO of Ox Street.

1.    
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1017918/sneakers-market-value-forecast-worldwide/