Third Wave Fashion // JULY 2013 // THE WEDDING TECH ISSUE | Page 20
T R E N D WA T C H
Inspiration
Inspiration-based commerce can almost be applied
to all purchases. An unfathomable amount of a consumer’s
purchase is inspired by good marketing, or through the
perusing of countless Pinterest boards. It is important, then,
to position the brand so it becomes a hub of inspiration and
gets the core customer to buy things they may not have
considered before visiting the storefront, whether on- or
offline. We take a look at brands that are doing this well.
One of the biggest players in this arena is Lyst. Lyst
provides inspiration through aggregation of real-time
information from the web, tailored to show consumers the
designers they love. Lyst continues innovation with the recent
launch of fashion’s first ever integrated checkout with
multiple retailers on one simple page. Lyst’s aggregator makes
it possible for customers to discover new products and
actually buy them (as their stock levels are highly accurate).
Customers no longer face the problem of an inspirational
piece that has long been sold out.
e Fancy is another visual discovery site similar to
Pinterest or We Heart It, but focuses on fashion products and
monetizes through an affiliate revenue model. Users are
encouraged to share what they “fancy” and can find new
things to want along the way. Following Birchbox’s lead,
Fancy launched a monthly subscription box service full of
new products for subscribers to enjoy for $30/month.
Birchbox on the other hand, is strictly a monthly
subscription service that sends customers a package of things
they will love. Birchbox customers receive curated boxes of
beauty samples and has a powerhouse of editorial content for
fans. e company is expanding in home decor and mens,
with 300,000 subscribers as of March 2013. Meanwhile
SVPPLY, acquired by eBay in September of 2012, encourages
users to register and keep track of things they like, similar to
Fancy. e connection of a user’s social media shows them
new products their friends like too.
Shopilly works as a discovery tool with no products
involved. is messaging app neatly compiles all commerce
based email, purchases, and brands, and puts them all into
one spot for easy browsing by the consumer. Shopilly hopes
to promote discovery, increase engagement, and, finally, to
provoke the purchase. Users can simply ‘follow’ their favorite
brands to discover new product launches and lines.
Alternately, AHAlife features luxury products curated by
tastemakers and rich editorial content that tell the stories of
the products.
Whether they use beautiful editorials, unique
products, visual discovery, or even aggregation, these
inspiration based brands do the job of making customers buy
that which they may not have known they wanted and drive
business.
ere were 81 Inspiration-categorized companies listed in the
ird Wave Fashion fashion tech database as of press time. To
learn more, contact us or subscribe today!
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