31–40 of 115 posts
Surveys have their place, but I'm a little surprised that a student of Steve Blank/Eric Ries' teachings wouldn't be "getting out of the building" and talking to people.
There was one thing I neglected to mention in the blog post, that I should mention now. We ran a contest (prior to the survey) that required contestants to submit their body measurements. We wanted shoppers to see the power of submitting their measurements. We threw quite a bit of money and traffic and the contest and we saw almost no engagment. My thinking was, if we can't get shoppers to submit their measurements for a chance to win a free high end fashion design, we might have a problem (let's do a survey!)
As @lmm suggested the demographic for high fashion is mostly women. Also, we struggled to find high end men's fashion designers interested in our offering.
@ericabiz - We played around with the language on our site, however, admittedly, I'm not a marketer, so there was definitely room for improvement here. Which is why I've signed up for CoFoundersLab (http://www.cofounderslab.com) so I can find a compatible partner before jumping into my next start up.
But really, the best line from Good Will Hunting is the "how about them apples" line. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmRe_fK7pbw
I had a friend drop $20,000 on a new supplement and training business, built out an app for trainers the way he saw thought it should be, and recruited trainers. Lots. Showed them the app, and got a lot of feedback, but by then it was too late. He was out of money and no dev wanted a piece of the pie.
He should have done his market research first. The OP too, no?
I agree with you that perfect sizing is the future of fashion retail--especially online. However, I completely disagree with your methodology. This demographic is going to be won over by marketing , and you didn't have the correct marketing play in hand when you ran this survey. I'm going to give you an example: If you ask people: "When shopping for clothes on the web, would you submit your email address if...?" Most…
They don't necessarily wear high end fashion (heels, skirts, whatever) because it "fits". They wear it because they like how it looks, how it makes them feel, etc.
My wife is an independent high end fashion designer. Working on fit is incredibly hard and specialized, from a product and marketing perspective. Good patterns are the fashion equivalent of good software. They take a long time to get right and require a lot of work. They also don't necessarily translate to an online experience that well, for several reasons.
Any business in this space needs to overcome them:
High end designers usually target particular body types, and then market specifically to that group.
I worked on a project for Levi's in the 90s for getting the perfect fit for jeans. We had laser cutters, 3D body scanners, and more.
It failed. Getting the right fit wasn't a just a matter of measurements. It was a manufacturing issue too.
Even two garments that have the same measurements may not fit exactly the same because of manufacturing issues, fabric tolerances, even customer perception.
When a customer tries a garment on, it can stretch, alter or rip. So if they don't purchase it, the second person trying it on may not have the same experience.
A garment that "fits" someone may not actually look good, depending on their body type.
High end customers also have expectations of being able to return anything, for any reason (think of how Nordstrom's handles this for example) These things can really hurt margins.
I agree with you that perfect sizing is the future of fashion retail--especially online. However, I completely disagree with your methodology. This demographic is going to be won over by marketing , and you didn't have the correct marketing play in hand when you ran this survey. I'm going to give you an example: If you ask people: "When shopping for clothes on the web, would you submit your email address if...?" Most…
"perfect fit" may be less of an issue than you think for high end fashion. If you asked them if they have trouble finding the perfect fit, I wonder what they would say. A lot of these women wear things like Lululemon, which fits really well, and makes their butt look good. They don't necessarily wear high end fashion (heels, skirts, whatever) because it "fits". They wear it because they like how it looks, how it make…
Everbody wants clothes that fit.
I don't know the first thing about fashion, and my wardrobe is anything but high-end.
However, I'm well-paid and ready to be a lifetime customer for anyone who can sell me slacks that simultaneously fit a >36" inseam, <38" waist and thighs which are no stranger to squats.
Did he tried with men?. I defenitely would give my measures to be able to buy clothing online, tshirts, hoodies, pants, even caps. I don't buy online right now unless is a bramd I already know and I go directly for my size. Is
Wow...thanks for all the comments. I've been a causal reader of Hacker News, but this was my first post. I'm really impressed all the comments. Lots of great questions/comments. There was one thing I neglected to mention in the blog post, that I should mention now. We ran a contest (prior to the survey) that required contestants to submit their body measurements. We wanted shoppers to see the power of submitting thei…
Gaining market share or customers via free X promos is a doomed strategy. I have my theories, but the main thrust is some mumbo jumbo about perceived value. I've sat in interviews with more than one company that said with a not-ironic face that suffering now will cause explosive results in the long term. I pipe up and explain why this isn't so. Why I offer this advice for free is beyond me.
As http://paulgraham.com/startupideas.html says, you want to work on an idea that a few people really want. Then you want to go out and find some of those people. Talk to them. And make what they want.
Concrete case in point. I remember reading an example of how an early focus group mostly panned a particular automobile, but 1/3 of people REALLY LOVED IT. On a survey it would have looked bad, but went on to be one of the most successful vehicles on the road. (I think it might have been the Ford Bronco, but don't quote me on that.) You don't care how many won't buy, you want something that you can find sufficient enthusiastic customers for.
When a woman finds something perfect, she likes to tell her friends about it. Suppose that your friend is standing in front of you in great clothing talking about how good the clothing from ____ is, you just sent them your measurements, browse the clothing, and they will send them to you tailored to fit, then you're likely sold. You've got to get those women started.
To do that you've got to do like Zappos did. You've got to have a generous return policy. Furthermore when you get returns, you need to try to get information about why it is returned. Because one of the reasons why stuff will get returned is fit, and the descriptions you get back are going to help you learn more about how to customize clothing to that women to give her a better fit next time. This is essential.
There is a lot to learn to make this work. And if you want it to work, it is absolutely necessary that you've got to get it right before trying to get popular.