PlumWillow, Virtual Shopping Coming To Teen Girls' Laptops
By Ty McMahan
Reprinted from the Wall Street Journal Blog
When PlumWillow Inc. launches its Web site later this year it may create online chatter like, "OMG, your avatar's skirt is soooooo cute."
The start-up, which just raised seed funding, wants to bring the mall to the MacBook, encouraging teens to participate in an online social shopping experience. That, in turn, may give marketers an inside look at teens' shopping preferences.
"Shopping is very social for girls," Chief Executive Scott Stone said. "It's an experience. It's fun. They want to go into one store and find something to match with at another store. And their friends are an important part of this."
PlumWillow will enable members to shop together virtually with friends, help make wardrobe decisions and share their choices through their social networks. The site, expected to launch in the second quarter of this year, features multiple brands that appeal to teens and allows users to design their own outfits and avatars. A user's purchases are stored in a virtual closet, which could provide valuable marketing information to brands.
"For the 5,000 girls with that purple sweater, we can provide rich promotions," Stone said.
Online social shopping is nothing new, as start-ups like Polyvore Inc., a user-generated fashion magazine, are finding success in the segment. But unlike many of those companies, PlumWillow is focused on the teen market exclusively.
The site will share revenue with its e-commerce partners. Stone said there are 13 million girls in the company's target demographic that spend an average of about $1,100 per year on clothes, making it a nearly $15 billion market.
New York-based PlumWillow's seed funding was led by Crossbar Capital, whose Managing Partner Charlie Federman is PlumWillow's chairman. Stone declined to provide the actual amount of the funding, saying it is less than $1 million, but "enough to fund the company for a good year."
Crossbar Capital invests in software, Internet and technology-enabled services. The firm is the investment vehicle of Federman.
Crossbar's portfolio companies include advice Web site operator Bitwine Inc.; Cloudsmith Inc., which offers an online service for software developers; prepaid debit card maker Payoneer Inc.; and Reimage Ltd., which makes remote diagnostics technology for computer technicians.
Reprinted from: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2010/03/09/plumwillow-virtual-shopping-coming-to-teen-girls-laptops
