Fashion Portals turn into Personal Stylists to attract customers

Thinking out of the box and differentiation are essential in the e-commerce rat race if you want to stand out and attract more customers. Although tons of options are available in the number of shopping portals available today, many customers may not have the time to browse through all to find what they need.

Startups like Voonik, Stylecracker and 20dresses are aiming to tap into this potential segment by turning into personal stylists with a sophisticated product selection and style advice based on customer measurements and style preferences. They do this with expert curation algorithms incorporated into their platforms.

Voonik aims to bridge the gap between fashionistas and common people wanting to be fashionistas. “It is difficult for me to think outside the box and understand what exactly would look good on me. Websites like Voonik help me experiment with styles and save me the time,” 30-year-old software professional Swati Singh said.

Showcasing more than 5000 women’s products from online portals like Zovi, Fashionara, Jabong and Myntra, Voonik gets a 10-15% commission on each product they direct to website.

Fashion is growing at a fast pace in the online selling space and such niche services have great potential as it helps to recreate a physical shopping experience for customers by helping them to find products that would suit them, which is the key with respect to fashion and accessories.

Through StyleCracker, customers get tailored advice depending on their fashion related queries. The cofounders realised that customers were asking for advice exclusive for them rather than for more products. So they decided to combine styling and intelligent technology to come up with a hugely scalable business model. Women can get advice on what and how to wear things from their own wardrobe and also how to pick merchandise from online retailers like Jabong, Myntra and Koovs and offline retailers like Shoppers Stop, and make stylish outfits for themselves.

20dresses works on a slightly different principle. It gives style advice to customers based on its own private label collection, which helps to bring in margins of 55-60%. The idea is to democratise fashion styling and make it accessible for everyone, rather than just for the upmarket as is generally perceived.

Should an Indian Online Seller turn into a Personal Stylist too?

There is no doubt that being different is essential to attract more customers today. Personal stylist or personal styling tips on your shopping site will help to bridge the gap between offline and online retailing, i.e. the absence of human touch. Customers, especially women, are particular about fitting and styles that suit them. So if you can provide them style advice, in addition to product suggestions, they are sure to favour you for their fashion shopping over other shopping options.