Some thoughts on a narrow topic: What $SFIX's service may look like as it continues to evolve. As usual I have ABSOLUTELY no view on short-term results or quarterly expectations.
ππππ ππ
(1/x)
ππππ ππ
(1/x)
My real interest lies in what the company might look like over the next 5 to 10 years. On that basis, Stitchfix remains a very interesting company to analyze.
The company continues to inch impressively closer to its end state: a 100% unique, personalized apparel showroom for consumers.
As new features are added with this goal in mind, the product will become further differentiated from traditional branded and department store e-com and even more distanced from anything amazon might hope to accomplish on its own for this kind of shopping.
The end state is not unlike how Netflix's landing page looks now - it is specifically tailored to an individual's tastes and is completely different for someone else in the family. Netflix makes this look simple now but getting there was really hard and took a lot of time.
Now imagine walking into the changing room at Nordstrom without an appointment and having 30 different items there ready to be purchased that were carefully selected based on your size and taste. Thatβs the problem that Stitchfix is working on.
Showing the right/optimal units to the consumer is critical of course and nothing else really matters if this part of the equation isn't adding value above and beyond the capabilities of others.
If/when achieved, I do not believe this end state will be easy to replicate.
The consumer facing app/site probably won't be terribly difficult to create but actually putting the right things in the showroom so that the % of items that are perfect - purchased, kept, worn & loved - is maximized will be very challenging or even impossible for late arrivals.
Yes there's some upfront work/data required to begin the service, but once a user is logged in the app asks for very little in exchange for something that is potentially very valuable to them.
Who wouldn't give an app 30 to 60 seconds to surface undiscovered items that they might really love to buy especially if the service performs better than just about anyone else in the vertical?
The consumer surplus at this point will be extremely high and not available in many other places - physical or digital.
This will help drive user frequency well above that of 'fix only' shopping potentially creating a self-reinforcing cycle of browsing and buying that just won't be possible on amazon or other standard apparel e-com apps/sites that exist today.
$FB/Insta will likely be able to replicate elements of this high value added browsing funnel but it will be less functional and not as well integrated as Stitchfix's service.
As Stitchfix gets better and scales over time, it should be able to create this magic with less upfront data versus what is required now. This will take upfront friction down another notch.
Consistently nailing all of this will be difficult but if/when this end state is achieved or partially achieved then watch out.
Stitchfix will potentially own some valuable high ground for an extended period of time. Third party selling + advertising/promotions will clearly be part of the mix.
No DC visits were required for this thread, just a lot of app time and mental war gaming. cc @patrick_oshag
(eom)
(eom)
β’ β’ β’
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
γ
