A new online clothing platform uses social interactions to narrow down style choices. It also adds preprinted UPS labels to simplify returns. Flip Fit is geared to Gen-Z and Millennial shoppers.
Small Business Trends contacted Flip Fit founders Jonathan Ellman and Nooruldeen “Noor” Agha to learn more.
“Fashion shopping has always been a social experience,” said Agha. “The decision for today’s shoppers to buy happens once they receive validation from friends and family.”
He goes on to say how the product bridges a gap.
Eliminating the Isolation of Shopping
“E-commerce has made shopping very isolating. We are connecting the social behaviors of shopping, which were previously only possible offline, with a virtual experience.”
Noor and Jonathan met in LA in 2018 with an idea to change the shopping experience. The pair had years of experience with fashion brands. They analyzed the market and customer behavior in offline retailers’ fitting rooms before coming up with the idea for Flip Fit.
How Flip Fit Works
Jonathan Ellman explains how it works.
“Through the Flip Fit social application, users get inspired for the fashion items they want by flipping through photos of what others are trying on.”
Just one of the things that makes the platform different is the ability to share your new looks with friends to help make buying decisions. The platform uses a tool that is similar to Tinder. It allows users in the community to vote yes or no on each item.
It Starts with Ten Boxes
Initially, ten boxes of products are sent to try on.
“After trying on the clothes, they share selfies of themselves with the 1,2,3 people whose opinions they care about so that they might vote for whether they should buy the item or return it in our box,” Ellman writes.
Users get credits to spend on new clothes for bringing their friends onto the platform too.
Tackling Product Returns
Flip Fit even tackles one of the bigger obstacles for this type of business — the product that gets sent back.
“Returns are our default – every box comes back – and we make this process seamless for our users,” Ellman says. “The UPS label is preprinted and you request the day and time they come to your door.”
How Small Businesses Benefit
In a word, Flip Fit helps clothing retailers decide what sells. Deciding what lines and products to launch for the upcoming season is always difficult. How much inventory they will need is a continual sore spot too.
Add in the ability of consumers to shop online, in-store or using a combination of both and you can see why Ellman says: “The industry is flying in the dark.”
Examining Actionable Data
He describes how his product sheds some light on those efforts.
“With Flip Fit, we will provide our brands actionable data, in real time, allowing them to test out new products on our platform,” he says. “It’s a direct line from the customers fingertips to the brands manufacturers.”
When they see demand spiking for a product, they can tell that brands’ manufacturer to double down on production. What’s more, Flip Fit warehouses the products.
“And we manage the marketing, logistics, payments, customer service and returns for our brands,” Ellman says.
They are already working with over a hundred of the top denim and t-shirt brands across the US, including Boyish, MadeWorn, Junkfood, Mavi and Edwin, AG, JBrand, Retrobrand and Hudson.
Image: pivotperformancewear.com