New York City is buzzing with excitement as Fashion week comes to an end. Celebrities, editors, buyers, and the generally well heeled flocked to runway shows across the city to discover upcoming trends and get a first peek at new collections. Fashion Week is also the perfect backdrop for conversations about the technology that will power the future of fashion and retail.
On Thursday night, FashTechNYC, a community of startup founders, retail executives, investors and influencers, hosted over 50 people for a conversation on Visual Discovery in Fashion. Presenters included representatives from Pinterest, Adaptly, BlogLovin, and Cortexica.
Pinterest started the conversation discussing how visual experiences drive commerce. As the visual version of Google for brands and products, Pinterest is the ultimate destination for consumer discovery. With the launch of Buyable Pins in June, Pinterest is extending the search, discover, and pin functionality of their platform to include purchase. Buyable Pins are a natural extension to Pinterest’s platform, where pinning items effectively signals to brands an intention to take action. In fact, 87% of all pinners have bought something they found on Pinterest across categories including fashion and beauty.
For retailers and brands, it’s all about finding consumers during that moment of influence. What better time than when a consumer is saying “I love this?” With 30% of Pinterests’ 100 million global monthly active users pinning about fashion, it makes sense that 10,000 brands are actively creating their own pins on the platform curating a collection of beautiful pictures. With just two taps, members complete their purchase. So far, Pinterest has integrated with Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, and Nordstrom with more partnerships in the works.
BlogLovin’ also participated in the conversation. The democratization of fashion and lifestyle content has been amazing for consumers, but it has also led to confusion and difficulty for influencers and brands to connect with their audience at scale. As a platform for visually driven content and commerce, BlogLovin’ brings together consumers, brands and influencers.
With data showing that 68% of women are more likely to buy from brands that use visually appealing pictures, their platform delivers beautiful visuals with relevant content. The app’s 6.5 million users log in 3-4 times a day to read new content posted by 700,000 influencers and brands. In partnership with brands like Coach, Gucci, and Armani BlogLovin’ delivers native ads to consumers and partners with influencers to deliver content to its fashion and inspiration obsessed members.
Present throughout the entire conversation was an emphasis on mobile. With 60% of BlogLovin’s audience and 80% of Pinterest members viewing on mobile, there is no question that in order to compete in the future of fashion and retail, mobile friendly experiences are an absolute baseline. The events’ sponsor, Cortexica, couldn’t have agreed more, sharing that most people store pictures to share in store with associates when considering a purchase. Cortexica’s visual recognition technology enables consumers to find an exact match or a similar style, increasing the likelihood that a purchase will happen. Their technology can be found on The NetSet, where customers can upload pictures of a dress they love or a cocktail in a favorite color and The NetSet brings up similar dresses or products in the desired color. Cortexica’s visual technology is enabling a richer consumer experience that maximizes opportunities for commerce.
The evolution of retail and commerce is happening at a dizzying speed. By partnering with innovative technology partners such as these, retailers and brands can stay relevant.
