Vinted
Vinted is an interesting case because it had multiple buyer personas simultaneously in its early phases, and had to choose which one to invest in.
Three profiles coexisted: Giovanna (25-35, wants to free up wardrobe space, sells clothes she no longer wears), Chiara (18-24, wants to buy quality fashion at low prices), and Laura (35-45, wants to earn something from unused clothing). Different profiles, different motivations, different acquisition channels.
Vinted's key strategic decision was to invest in Giovanna — not because she was the most numerous, but because she was the bottleneck. Without supply (Giovanna selling) there was no demand (Chiara buying). The marketplace needed to solve the supply side first.
This guided every choice in the early years: onboarding was optimised for photographing and uploading an item quickly, not for searching and buying. Push notifications reminded users to upload "clothes you haven't worn since this summer". Word of mouth was built among sellers, not buyers.
Only when supply was sufficiently dense did Vinted invest in demand-side acquisition. Clarity on the primary buyer persona prevented years of misallocated resources.
In a marketplace, the primary buyer persona is not necessarily the most numerous — it is the one that unlocks the side that creates value for everyone else.