PlumWillow

On Formspring and Chatroulette

March 28th, 2010

I’ve been thinking about the incredible growth of Formspring.me and the publicity surrounding Chatroulette.com. Both sites offer anonymity in a world (and web) that is becoming more and more open and transparent.

Formspring is basically a question and answer forum. Started in November 2009, it now draws 30 million unique users per month. The box on the homepage reads. “Ask me anything” and users do. Users can post questions anonymously and continue the interrogation for as long as they like. It has developed into a site where users (mostly teens) taunt and intimidate each other. It combines voyeurism (what is she saying?) and narcissism (people want to know about me).

Chatroulette , which pairs random people in one-to-one chat, also launched in November 2009 and has over a million users per month. At any time after the chat is initiated, either user can end the session by clicking the ‘next’ button. Chatroulette is populated by the expected exhibitionists and voyeurs.

Is the fact that our world has become so transparent through social networks a reason that so many are taking refuge behind the anonymous nature of these sites? Or were we always exhibitionists, voyeurs and narcissists?

The Changing Face of E-Commerce

March 15th, 2010

On Wednesday night, NextNY hosted a panel on the recent developments in social shopping, group buying, flash sales and the changing nature of e-commerce. The overall feeling was set early on when Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital said he has seen more innovation in this arena in the past 10 -18 months than in the 10 years prior. Reasons cited for these innovations included:

The recession has forced retailers to fight harder for business and has made them more willing to venture outside their comfort zones. It has also made more people willing to take risks and start new businesses as traditional jobs are now scarcer and often paying less.
The days of easy growth in e-commerce, fueled by Google search, are past. Brands and retailers no longer are assured of the steady traffic streams they once enjoyed.
The accessibility and growth of social networks and the real-time web has increased the ability to expand social shopping beyond product ratings and recommendations.
No doubt there will continue to be changes in the future. The growth of the real time web combined with the ability to build community via Facebook Connect are two factors that will help launch PlumWillow, a teen social shopping site that I am the founder of. We see how little e-tailing has changed over ten years and see that teens are faced with an internet shopping experience that mirrors that of adults. In our focus groups with teens they keep telling us they want a better way to shop. Help is on the way…

Shopping, not Just Buying

March 8th, 2010

By and large, the online apparel shopping experience is unsatisfying. It is stuck in the mentality of the 1990’s; designed to protect the scarce bandwidth and computing resources of the user. This thinking led to product management decisions that were geared to driving a sale consummation ASAP. The concept of fun or engagement, that is an integral part of the real world shopping experience has not yet recovered. Most e-commerce sites suffer from what I would call a ‘buy and bye’ mentality. The intention is to get you to buy then say, “Goodbye”. This mentality explains a great deal of why online apparel sales, at less than 6% of the industry’s volume is so pitiful.

This ‘buy and buy’ mentality is particularly an anathema to teens. It goes against everything that shopping is to them. They go to the mall looking for fun, diversion and companionship. They do shop, and often buy, but the joy is in the experience, the sharing with friends, the ability to buy something at one store and take that item around to other stores and find something to go with it. The lack of success is deserved; we don’t provide them with the tools or experience they have grown accustomed to in their on-line experience ranging from mobile phones to the Sims.

Shopping engines and aggregators like Amazon, Zappos and Google Product Search do a good job of searching for products, directing you where to buy it, and offering product reviews, but that’s where it ends. Retailers’ sites are the same – thumbnails of products, banner ads and maybe a suggestion of what to wear with a particular item. These are strictly commercial experiences and frustrating. How does this sweater go with the skirt I am thinking of buying? What does my best friend think of the outfit? These are easy answers at the mall; impossible in the current e-commerce world.

I do see the beginnings of a change coming on. Sites like Polyvore are allowing users to assemble outfits from multiple sources and encouraging others to comment on the creations. Specialty retailers like the Gap are developing outfit builders and mobile apps. As Web 2.0 leads to Shopping 2.0 and beyond, these and other innovations will have to continue. At PlumWillow, a new business I am developing with like minded people, we will give teen girls a social shopping experience that will bring the engagement, fun and companionship of the mall to their laptops. Stay tuned!

The Return of Khaki?

March 2nd, 2010

In his excellent blog, A Continuous Lean, Michael Williams tells of his visit to the Levi’s archive in San Francisco. What might be unexpected to many (most) is his concentration on things other than denim at the world’s premier denim maker (he did previously post an interview with Lynn Downey, Levi’s archivist and historian, that was primarily about denim). I was surprised to learn that Levi’s has been making non-denim pants since the early 1900’s – it wasn’t till the Dockers explosion in 1980’s that Levi’s was widely known for anything non-denim.

Williams says he sees a khaki comeback on the horizon and I would have to agree with him. The denim business is traditionally cyclical. It never goes away, but we have been riding the crest of the denim wave for a long time now. The premium denim business is showing signs of slowing, prices have come down and just how much more can be done with innovative wash techniques? The fact that the hot denim trend right now is rigid & unwashed leads me to believe that innovation (and consumer interest) has slowed down.

Besides the re-branding of Dockers, Williams talks of khaki being featured at J Crew, Club Monaco and others. It makes sense. Khaki will overcome the Dockers Friday office casual stigma it developed within the fashion community. Menswear is deep into the heritage, military, Americana feel right now. What makes better sense than the return of khaki?

At Fashion Camp 2010 & Fashion Tech NYC

February 25th, 2010

I spent most of the past weekend at Fashion Camp at Parsons in NYC. Modeled on the Bar Camp format popularized in the open source web community, Fashion Camp encourages all attendees to participate and present. It was a great opportunity to see and hear first hand how innovative people are putting together fashion and technology for the 21st Century. Sustainable fashion, wearable technology and web design were all topics of discussion. Thanks to Jonathan and Bonnie for organizing a great event.

Campers included bloggers, designers, aspiring e-commerce merchants and those just curious. I presented PlumWillow, a teen social shopping site I am developing to an enthusiastic group on Saturday and then led a discussion on outsourcing imports on Sunday (I was most recently SVP of sourcing for a major men’s apparel company). I also had the opportunity to sit in on interesting presentations about virtual fashion shows, vintage clothing and monetizing web sites. The highlight might have been the spirited discussion Sunday morning on why the fashion industry isn’t as open and collaborative as the tech industry. The consensus appeared to be that although still more secretive than the tech world, the fashion world is starting to open up to sharing and collaboration.

That opinion was shared by accessory designer Rafe Totengco at Gotham Media’s Tuesday morning’s Fashion Tech NYC breakfast who said that his being open and accessible has only helped his business. The panel discussed the importance of social media, and a social media STRATEGY as being important to fashion brands, especially since fashion brands spend a considerably lower percentage of revenue on traditional marketing than consumer product companies do.

Events such as these are evidence that two of the pillars of New York business, the fashion and technology communities, will be working together with increasing frequency in the future.

Holiday Teen Retail

February 25th, 2010

Now that December comp store sales results are in, there is some good news being reported by 2 chains recently having some tough times (Gap up 2%, American Eagle up 7%) , more good news from the chain that has led the sector (Aeropostale up 10%) and more bad news from the chain that has had the toughest time recently (Abercrombie down 19%).
To me, these results are due to two core tenets – product and value.
Aero continues as the value leader in the market and their 10% increase is even more impressive given their 8% increase last December (as a comparison, the other 3 chains I mention here were all down double digits December ‘08). For specific comparisons, in the pre-Christmas week Aero was selling denim at $20 and tees at $9, compared to American Eagle with denim at $30-$40 and tees at $12.50. I would agree with those who may accuse me of not comparing apples to apples (AEO tees having more embellishment, their denim being different) but, to the holiday gift giver in these times, they’re both the same item.
Gap’s growth came almost entirely from Old Navy being up 7% (core Gap brand increased 1%) which makes sense as it is the true value driven part of the Gap business. Gap’s comps were made easier by their 14% decrease last December.
American Eagle’s 7% growth (coming off a 17% decrease last December) brings out the product part of the equation – the assortments were just more focused and compelling then they have been recently and customers took notice. The breadth of AEO’s denim assortment was especially good. The publicity around its Times Square store (and customer’s ability to be pictured on the Times Square digital billboard) certainly added to the chain’s success.
So that leaves Abercrombie dropping 19% after being down 24% in December ‘08. It looks like Abercrombie needs to do a major re-thinking of the product/value equation.

Product Experience

February 25th, 2010

As I am in the start up phase of a new web business (my first), I spend a lot of time looking for similarities between the new business and my previous experience as a “garmento”. The one thing that keeps coming up is the preeminence of the product itself.

As our team builds PlumWillow.com, a social shopping site for teens, we continually remind ourselves to focus on the product itself and to provide an experience that will make our members stay on the site and return again and again. If we succeed in building a great product and a great experience, the revenue will follow.

In today’s rather dire retail apparel climate, one of the few standouts is J Crew whose comparable store sales increased 8% in the 3rd quarter while increasing their gross margins by a whopping 7%. Why? Because J Crew has great product. Classic design, attention to detail and a clear focus on who the customer is and what she wants.

In their 3rd quarter conference call, J Crew CEO Mickey Drexler (who led the Gap to be the envy of apparel retailers in the 80’s & 90’s) summed it all up, ” Regardless of the economic environment our long term mission does not change – it’s about product, it’s about quality, it’s about design, it’s about service, it’s about creativity. It might sound simple, but in this business sometimes the simplest things are the hardest to achieve.”

Something marketers ignore at their own risk.