Designing the Post-Purchase Customer Journey:

Patagonia’s Circular Economy Initiatives

Abstract

Among sustainability efforts, there is increasing attention on the circular economy (CE), in which resources are recycled after use and then reused as resources. This paper presents a case study of Patagonia, which was one of the first companies to establish business and marketing based on a CE model. The analysis uses the customer journey, which has developed in the field of service design and has been referenced in marketing research in recent years. This approach focuses on maintenance and repair, reuse, refurbishment, and recycling in the post-purchase stage of the customer journey. We found that Patagonia has designed the customer experience related to its products after use in the post-purchase stage in a way that adapts to the CE model, while at the same time transforming its marketing through direct channels with its customers.