An AI-powered online fashion marketplace, Shoptrue, launches its website in beta today with plans for a public release early next year. The site combines artificial intelligence and personalized recommendations with taste-driven shopping, according to the company, which helps give users style inspiration as well as the ability to create and share outfit ideas. with others.
Rather than the typical algorithmic approach like Amazon, which ranks items based on a strong sales history, Shoptrue is AI-driven and continually improves its product recommendations based on buying behaviors and customer experience. user engagement. This way, users can have more of a say in what they see on their selected feeds.
The site offers a “one-stop personal shop” for the user, which gives fashion suggestions based on their style preferences. Users can remove items they don’t like and purchase items directly from Shoptrue through its unified checkout process.
Romney Evans, the founder of Shoptrue, told TechCrunch, “Instead of being a top-down recommendation system, where the user is passive, it puts the user in the driver’s seat, in personalization, giving them the orders.”
Shoptrue’s individualized shopping experience begins with an onboarding quiz, which includes questions about your style personality, favorite brands, and color preferences, similar to other personalized e-commerce sites, like Stitch Fix . Shoptrue users can then browse a wide selection of merchandise from over 2,000 merchants ranging from high-end brands like Alexander Wang, Christian Louboutin, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, to affordable retailers like Ross, Kohls, Nordstrom Rack, H&M and Forever. 21.
There are also “shops”, or collections created by Shoptrue’s team of editors, which users can explore for inspiration. For example, the “Girls’ nightThe lookbook includes fashionable mini skirts, strappy heels, tank tops, graphic pants and handbags.
Users will soon be able to create and share their own stores, says Shoptrue. Peer-generated shops will also be rolling out when Shoptrue officially comes out of beta.
Picture credits: Shoptrue
Shoptrue will also soon launch the ability to pre-filter sizing and fit specs, so shoppers only see in-stock products that fit their size. This is a natural step for the company as Evans is also the co-founder of True Fitthe personalization company that created a data platform to help online shoppers find the right sizes for clothes and shoes.
Over the next year or so, Shoptrue users will be able to create a True Fit profile that helps determine their size for specific items, Evans told TechCrunch.
As Shoptrue evolves, the company plans to add features based on customer feedback.
“We invite shoppers around the world to join us on this journey. It will take time, but today begins our rollout of an exciting stream of innovations and distinctive experiences that will make it easy for you to get what you want. We aspire to delight shoppers and earn their trust by improving their shopping experience every month and every quarter through innovation, trial and error, and listening to their feedback,” said Evans.
The Shoptrue beta is available starting today on the web only. It is not yet available as a native app on iOS and Android devices, however, it is mobile optimized. There are plans to launch a native app in 2023, the company told us.
With the launch of Shoptrue, Evans brought a team of technology and fashion experts, including Brandon Holley, a Condé Nast veteran with more than 25 years of fashion experience, and former Netflix data scientist John Lashlee. Holley is also the founder and CEO of All clothesa technology platform that is now integrated with Shoptrue and helps provide personalized recommendations and predict shopping behavior.
The startup raised $6 million in seed funding in 2021 to help build, test, and launch its beta. Investors included Signal Peak Ventures, Pelion Venture Partners and Peterson Ventures. The company plans to raise additional funds in 2023.
Shoptrue founder Romney Evans (left), fashion director Brandon Holley (middle), vice president of data science John Lashlee (right)
Shoptrue’s business model is typical of online marketplaces. When a user transacts with a merchant through Shoptrue, the business takes a commission from those sales. Shoptrue declined to share the commission range, but said it was standard for most fashion marketplaces. (Note that Poshmark’s and ASOS Marketcommission is 20%.) There is no charge for brands that participate in Shoptrue.
Social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok are increasingly responsible for influencing the shopping habits of young consumers, especially Gen Z. Shoptrue hopes Gen Z and Millennials will feel empowered to share their shops and their fashion favorites on social media, get help from Shoptrue style experts, and find other users and influencers who use the platform.
The launch of Shoptrue is another example of how AI technology is transforming the e-commerce industry. In June, pinterest acquired AI-powered shopping platform The Yes, which creates a personalized fashion feed and continuously learns a user’s style while shopping. Pinterest said the deal would help the company become the home of taste-driven shopping.
“We’re making it easier for people to find just the things they’re going to love, then give them the tools to organize and share their POV style with the world,” Shoptrue fashion director Brandon Holley said in a post. announcement. “Anyone’s boutique has the potential to set off a fashion-inspired chain reaction that can surprise and delight you from any direction.”
