Buying clothes and fashion accessories online long ago passed the fear barrier of uploading credit card details. It is enough to go to any post office or delivery company in the country in the past two years and see the piles of parcels from leading online stores all over the world to see the trend.
Nonetheless, the problem of the user’s measurements remains a major concern. Half-blind shopping with the click of a mouse on a computer screen or an easy swipe by a smartphone involves the risk that the “large” shirt at British site next will not fit as well as the “large” shirt at the Castro Model Ltd. (TASE: CAST) store in Israel.
Many technology companies all over the world have tried, and are still trying, to bridge these gaps and answer the question how clothing bought on line will actually look on me. The technological solutions include uniform sizes, special cameras, and even sophisticated mirrors placed in brick-and-mortar stores.
Zeekit Ltd., founded 18 months ago, is trying to solve the problem from a different angle. Its founders’ solution is a two-dimensional full-body picture of the user to show how the clothes from any online store - will look on him or her.
“We began with a platform that allows personal selection and fitting of goods, but we very quickly noticed that the platform was underpinned by a very complicated, slow, and specific process,” says Zeekit founder CEO Yael Vizel, an Air Force captain (res.) veteran of the IDF Mamram (Computers and Information Systems Center)
Vizel was not alone. She founded the company with CTO Nir Appelboim and VP R&D Alon Kristal. The three co-founders realized that the technology they developed could fit if they changed its designated use from building personalized products to test the personal fit of existing products.
Zeekit’s next stage was home design to show how kitchen tiles or floor tiles would look in the new home. But the entrepreneurs did not find satisfaction there, either. “Every purchase here is expensive, but also just once. You do it maybe twice in your life, and when you do it, you go to the store to look at the models, and the target clientele is older.” Says Vizel. She and her partners then pivoted again and hit pay dirt.
An accessible and available app
Zeekit was one of the three winners of the “Globes” and Bank Hapoalim (TASE: POLI) SmartUp2 competition. As part of the program, Caesarea-based Nielsen Innovate, run by CEO Esther Barak-Landes, will advise the company. It seems that the two CEOs clicked at their first meeting and the conversation flowed.
Barak-Landes: What is the size of your target market?
Vizel: The fashion market’s annual turnover is $1.1 trillion, 10% of which is online. But this segment suffers from losses, because half of clothes purchases are returned. As a result, the average size of online purchases is small because people are afraid to buy. They don’t know how the product will look on them, and that’s a major deterrent. When you’re disappointed by one purchase, you may wait a long time before shopping online again.
Barak-Landes: What’s your business model?
Vizel: We’re using a C2B (customers to business) model, approaching the end user. This model is similar to Google: you upload a picture of yourself, fill out a questionnaire about the kind of clothes you’re seeking, such as for a job interview or party, and we offer you all clothes available on the internet. Our application also allows replacing only part of the outfit. For example, if you like the pants, but want a different shirt, you simply swipe the shirt and look for something else.
Barak-Landes: How do you plan to promote yourselves?
Vizel: One way is to join an affiliates program. There is also a blog, Twitter account, and Instagram. It will also be possible to see what friends recommend wearing and even create a consultancy group.
Barak-Landes: What is your business model?
Vizel: Payment for users going to e-commerce sites and revenue-sharing on sales through us. Businesses can also install our technology on their sites and allow their customers to see how the clothes fit. We expect to launch the product within three months and see revenue from day one.
Barak-Landes: There are many companies trying to tackle this problem of measuring clothes online. How is your company different?
Vizel: Other solutions do not show the clothes on you and we have picture processing technology that can do this. The moment 3D cameras are put into telephones, we’ll integrate them too. But at the moment, we’re seeking an accessible and available solution that isn’t complicated, because otherwise it won’t work.
Barak-Landes: There are companies that show you what Kate Moss wore at a ceremony and you can order the same clothes could you include something like that?
Vizel: We could do it, but that’s not the problem. I can find you clothes that you saw on television, but the main concern is spending money on something that you’re not sure will suit you. That’s already hard enough in a store and you deliberate a lot, let alone trying to do this online.
Barak-Landes: Your company’s decision to go for a C2B model is a major challenge. With this model, you have to control the market and reach a great many users. In effect, you have to become the Instagram of fashion. There isn’t always room for number 2.
Vizel: True. We know that the company that can crack the matter of imaging clothes will take the market, and that’s our goal. We want to be the Google of fashion and boost the conversion ratio from 6% of fashion site users who make purchases to 15%.
Following the lengthy conversation, it can be said that Barak-Landes was impressed by the technology, the product, and especially by Zeekit’s entrepreneurs. It seems that she believes in the current product. “The beauty of their technology is that people of any age, even older people, can enter, photograph themselves, and find clothes that fit online. This is an app that I think is across the board, and does not just target women. The company’s technology, both the picture and the picture processing, and the level of the search for relevant clothing have created for the company an absolute solution to the problem of fitting clothes online”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 3, 2014
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