The “Do Everything At Home” Model Pays Off For Some Tech-Enabled Businesses

Last year I covered a shopping social network startup, FlipFit, going by the brand name Flip. The concept was interesting, an app that enables consumers to select in-home fashion deliveries, do their own personal fashion show and collect votes from their network to help them choose the garments they wish to buy. It is a great mashup of the power of social media and influencer marketing. 

At the time of launch, there was a question about how to differentiate from fashion boxes and the age-old in-store retail shopping experience. Considerable effort went into explaining how you could bring the instore fitting room experience into your living room. That was so pre-COVID-19. 

Now is the time for disruptive technologies

Co-founders Nooruldeen Agha and Jonathan Ellman came together with a mind to disrupt the retail fashion space, unaware of the otherworldly disruptions that would follow. Now, nearly every business is hustling to convert their model to deliver an in-home experience—from the restaurant to every kind of product company. Unfortunately, they don’t all have what FlipFit does—an app built with a “home hub” as the core of the experience. 

Today Flip has released version 2.0 of their app. One new feature is the Discover function that enables shoppers and community members to uncover fashion of interest. The feature delivers benefits similar to Pinterest; whose engaged community helps like-minded consumers find goods they wouldn’t ordinarily be aware of. Flip, unlike subscription boxes, harnesses the knowledge of the network and enables consumers to curate more personalized fashion experiences.

When disruption becomes the new normal

We’ve all been experiencing the speed and quality of innovation in our shopping experiences over the last few months. Many of us feel that evolving models are a work in progress—and we’re happy to do the dry run with providers for the convenience and comforts that their success will deliver to us. 

Additionally, we’re becoming aware that not all of us will return to our old ways. For companies like FlipFit, who were working on getting their consumers to imagine a new kind of shopping experience, the consumers who learn a new way may not go back. Not if you look at the trends in fashion and retail, including the pending bankruptcies of Neiman Marcus, JC Penney and J Crew, and countless others. According to Agha, “The average market capitalization of apparel, fashion, and luxury players has collapsed 40-50%+ in the 12 weeks since Feb 21 – more than triple that of the S&P.” 

Like most companies right now, conserving capital is critical while refining the business model. FlipFit’s financial model is based on a revenue share with Brands. This model may prove to be a particular win-win for those brands who have not kept up with digital innovation and seek new channels and methods for delivering a unique brand experience in our new at-home and digital reality.  

Boxing up help for others

FlipFit is also working to do their part for the community at large by launching their Clothe The World social initiative. All of us that are currently working and thriving understand the responsibilities we have to others. While some are working with neighbors and others close to home, FlipFit is working on a grand vision through Clothe The World to outfit one billion people in need by 2030. 

Since returns are a part of the business model, FlipFit will use space in the returns box for consumers to offer up their “like-new” unused garments and then distribute them—first in L.A., where they are headquartered, and eventually around the world. 

As we begin to tire of binge-watching or binge-gaming, many of us are looking for new experiences. We’ve integrated in-home classrooms and perfected changing our backgrounds in our web conference platforms. Perhaps the next logical step is to reinvent ourselves and enhance our appearances before we re-emerge from our cocoons. 

As fashion photographer Bill Cunningham said, “Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life.” Everyday life is both real and surreal right now. Suit up, my friends.