Introduction

As brands face increasing pressure to extend product lifecycles and improve customer experience, choosing the right aftercare model becomes crucial. According to PWC’s Customer Loyalty Survey 2023, there’s a significant disconnect between business perceptions and consumer reality – while 61% of executives believe their customers are more loyal than before the pandemic, only 20% of consumers agree [1]. This gap highlights the need for meaningful customer touchpoints that build authentic relationships.

The Strategic Value of Aftercare

Recent research from the provided reports reveals compelling evidence for investing in controlled aftercare services:

• 75% of shoppers are likely to spend more after receiving high-quality service from store personnel [2]
• Companies effectively delivering proactive service solutions achieve 5.9% revenue growth compared to -1.8% for those who don’t [3]
• 91% of executives believe their loyalty programs should provide more rewards or benefits [1]

Three Models for Service Delivery

1. Internal Repair Teams

Overview

Bringing repair services in-house through dedicated repair workshops and trained craftspeople.

Industry Example: Mulberry

Mulberry’s 2023-24 Sustainability Report demonstrates the power of internal repair services:

• Over 12,000 bags repaired and restored at their Lifetime Service Centre
• 160 leather craftspeople trained through their apprenticeship program
• Full quality control enabling lifetime guarantees
• Direct customer relationship management
• 800+ bags crafted per week in UK factories [4]

2. White Label External Partners

Overview

Partnering with third-party repair providers while maintaining branded customer experience.

Industry Example: PATAGONIA

Patagonia demonstrates how a white label partnership model can successfully scale while maintaining brand standards. Through their stores and retailers, they:

• Operate with multiple third party repair providers globally
• Provide free product care and repair services
• Maintain quality control through SLR’s [5]

3. Official External Repair Partners

Overview

Outsourcing repairs entirely to third-party providers who manage the end-to-end service.

Industry Example: M&S

M&S announced a partnership with Sojo in 2024 for clothing repairs and alterations, with:

• Booking through Sojo’s website
• Customer communication, payment processing and repair delivered by Sojo
• No internal infrastructure investment required [6]

THE OPPORTUNITY WITH BRAND CONTROL

When maintaining control of the repair experience – either through internal teams or carefully managed white label partnerships – brands can directly measure increase in LTV and customer engagement impact.

1. Enhanced Customer Loyalty

Accenture’s research shows that companies delivering effective service achieve significantly higher revenue growth (5.9% vs -1.8% decline) [3]. Additionally:

• B2B customers are 37% more likely to purchase more from companies actively listening to feedback
• B2C customers are twice as likely to increase purchases when they feel heard [3]

2. Customer Engagement

According to the State of Fashion report:

• Service excellence drives customer spending, with 75% more likely to spend more after good service [2]
• 82% of customers want assistance in reducing time spent researching services [2]

3. Future-Proofing

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation highlights that:

• EPR legislation will require brands to take responsibility for product lifecycle
• Collection infrastructure needs significant scaling
• Current economics for collection and recirculation require structural funding [7]

Implementation Recommendations For in-house or white label partners

Based on successful examples like Mulberry and Patagonia, brands should:

• Invest in repair strategy, SLA structures that support KPI’s
• Design an omnichannel branded customer experience
• Automate the capture valuable first-party customer, product and repair data
• Build scalable aftercare programs to reach your customer wherever they are

While the upfront investment may be higher, brand-controlled repair services – whether internal or white label – enable brands to measure impact over time through LTV, capture valuable 1st party customer, product and repair data to inform future design and material strategy and deeply integrate the service into the brand offering and DNA.

References

[1] PWC Customer Loyalty Executive Survey 2023
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/building-customer-loyalty-guide.html

[2] The State of Fashion 2025, McKinsey & Company and Business of Fashion
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/state-of-fashion

[3] End-to-Endless Customer Service, Accenture
https://www.accenture.com/content/dam/accenture/final/accenture-com/document/Accenture-End-to-Endless-Customer-Service.pdf

[4] Mulberry Sustainability Report 2023-2024
https://www.mulberry.com/plugins/investor_relations/pdf/Mulberry_Sustainability_Report_2024.pdf

[5] Patagonia Repair
https://www.patagonia.com/repairs/

[6] “M&S to launch clothing repairs service”, BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cpe35e7kgnzo

[7] Pushing the boundaries of EPR policy for textiles, Ellen MacArthur Foundation
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/epr-policy-for-textiles