The rental question
Should NUTT Amsterdam introduce rental and how to make sure people actually adopt it
Intro
Rental is often seen as a logical next step. A way to increase access, extend product use and reach new audiences. But for premium brands, the question is more complex. Because rental does not just change how people access a product. It also affects how they relate to it and whether they choose it at all. In this project with NUTT Amsterdam, we were asked a clear question:
Should NUTT introduce rental and if so, how?
Our approach
We explored this question in two steps. First, through a quantitative survey within our community to understand how people respond to rental and how they perceive it in a premium context. That gave us direction, but not depth. So we brought a diverse group of consumers together for a hosted lunch session, including both existing NUTT customers and people unfamiliar with the brand. Instead of discussing rental in abstract terms, we focused on real behaviour. We asked a simple question:
When could you have rented something, but didn’t — and what happened in that moment?
Because that is where the real answer sits.
What we uncovered
What became clear is that rental is not a hard sell. Most people are open to the idea, especially in the context of circular fashion and access over ownership. Whether people choose it depends on getting a few key conditions right. Across the conversations, four layers kept returning, shaping both adoption and brand perception.
1. It has to fit the brand
Rental increases accessibility, which aligns with circular thinking.
At the same time, for a premium brand like NUTT, it raises questions about exclusivity and meaning. People don’t just evaluate whether they would use rental, but also what it does to the value of owning something from the brand.
2. It has to work in practice
Interest alone is not enough. The experience has to feel easy and predictable. Questions around fit, delivery, returns and responsibility quickly influence the decision. When something feels unclear or inconvenient, people default to what they already know. What is often described as “gedoe” turns out to be very concrete and very solvable.
3. It has to make sense in context
Rental is rarely seen as a universal replacement for ownership. Instead, it becomes relevant in specific situations. Moments like work events, speaking engagements or occasions where impact matters but repeat wear is limited make rental feel like a logical choice. In those contexts, rental adds value rather than replacing ownership.
4. It has to feel trustworthy
Finally, trust plays a key role. People want clarity on condition, maintenance and what happens if something goes wrong. For a brand like NUTT, where craftsmanship and uniqueness are central, that bar is even higher. Trust is not something to communicate afterwards. It needs to be built into the experience from the start.
Where it breaks down
The challenge is not that people don’t understand rental, or that they are fundamentally against it. It is that the experience often does not align with how they make decisions in real life. When something feels slightly unclear, slightly inconvenient or slightly off in relation to the brand, people default to what feels easier and more familiar. Not because rental is a bad idea, but because it does not quite fit. For NUTT Amsterdam, that leads to a clear conclusion: Rental can only work if it reinforces what the brand already stands for, and if the experience removes the friction that currently prevents people from acting.
What changed in the conversation
Looking at rental in this way shifts the focus of the question. It is no longer just about whether to introduce it, but about what needs to be true for people to actually use it. That turns rental from a strategic idea into something that needs to be carefully designed, across perception, experience and context.
What this means in practice
Based on the session, we translated the insights into:
What holds rental back and what unlocks it
This includes:
Where people hesitate
Which moments create friction
What increases willingness to try
How rental needs to be positioned within the brand
These insights were used to inform whether and how rental could be introduced in a way that fits both the brand and real customer behaviour. Because adoption does not depend on offering rental. It depends on whether it fits into real life.
How we help brands move forward
For brands exploring rental, the challenge is rarely awareness. Consumers understand the concept. The real question is whether it works within your brand, and whether people will actually use it. We help identify where behaviour breaks down, and what needs to change to make a new model viable in practice.
For brands exploring rental
Considering rental, but unsure if it will actually work for your brand?
We offer a rental exploration sprint to:
Test perception before launch
Identify real barriers and triggers
Design a proposition that fits your brand
Translate insights into clear decisions
No generic frameworks. Just a grounded understanding of what will (and won’t) work in real life.
