‘Stashd’ is a mobile app co-founded in 2013 by the Ultimo based 24 year-old fashion-publicist turned tech entrepreneur, Jessica Wilson. Since starting out the app has gone from strength to strength.
From a standstill start now just over two years ago, the app has recently exceeded the one million mark for the number of garments ‘Stashd’, or saved, and is fast approaching the same number of products it has to offer. That’s right; there’ll soon be nearly a million fashion items to choose from. Her app has been ranked in Apples Best New apps in 11 different countries and has been downloaded in 136 across the world. Along with this rapid rise has also come a lot of media attention. Flagship publications like ‘The Australian’ and ‘The Financial Review’ have covered her success and she’s also been pinned by Forbes as one of 1,000 entrepreneurs under the age of 30 to change the world over the coming 50 years.
This inspiration and success have also afforded her invaluable learning opportunities with the likes of companies such as Google and with personalities like, none other than, Sir Richard Branson. But now we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Rewind a little, back to when she first had her vision, to when she spotted a certain lag. That is, a gap between what was happening on social media platforms and how fashion labels were presenting themselves online. In this gap she saw the potential for a ‘fashion discovery tool’ that could be used whenever and wherever. That is, the type of tool you could use to share your fashion picks with friends whether you were on the street or at a dinner party. So she moved to take online shopping for clothes, to the next level of convenience.
And in doing so, tapped into a giant emerging market: m-commerce.
This she achieved by creating an app with a quick and easy swipe motion. With a left swipe, the garment is trashed; with a right, it is stashed. It’s been called Tinder for fashion: a discreet hunt for the right stash with a hand motion to match. ‘Stashd’ means secured in a virtual wardrobe either to simply keep for inspiration, to buy on the instant or later, or to share with friends.
To share with friends is as simple as a double tap and each ‘share’, (fashion item), are sourced from global online shopping companies like ASOS and Farfetch.
1) What features do you use to engage people online?
The advantage is in the simplicity of the design and the swipe motion. People can consider a garment as long as they like, or just skip through but whatever method they use the swiping motion is kind of empowering. Trashed or Stashed? The power is in your hands. And when you think about it, the motion is really just like sorting through clothes on a rack. This lends it that extra energy and the ever elusive ‘on the shop floor’ kind of feel. This has been a focus; we’ve really tried to mirror ‘browsing’ in a brick and mortar store into the mobile experience, so all in the palm of your hand.
Another user-friendly feature is that at any one moment there is only one garment on the screen. Because a mobile interface is quite small, the idea is each garment needs to take up the whole page to make an impact and really speak to the user. So, instead of dividing the page, every garment goes centre stage under the spotlight of the users discretion.
2) What adaptations are needed to succeed in the fashion industry today?
We want people to be able to respond the instant they know what they want, instead of scrolling through limited brand specific catalogues and only when they get the time. So the adaptation paramount to success for us has been about customer engagement. We want to demystify the fashion industry, to make it more accessible and to take any pressure or hurdles out of the online experience. The less confusion and nerves the better.
3) Can non-tech people with an idea succeed?
Well considering my background was fashion I would say: ‘don’t be scared’ of the tech space. There are plenty of people who can help out if you only step out and speak to people. Events like Bizruption are great opportunities of meeting people who will put you on the right path.
Once you’ve got the basics and established an online presence, you get a better view of what sort of opportunities exist out there. My journey is an example of what type of gains and market share are possible through the right type of digital engagement.
It’s kind of like this: ‘When you look out onto your horizon it should always be moving with every step forward, but without taking action and the right digital engagement for your business, it’s a struggle to even see that far.’
For those who want to check out how style can be managed, just visit the website: www.stashdapp.com.
About the Author
Dinesh de Silva is Founder & CEO of www.netstripes.com; an Aussie tech startup that is disrupting the way small businesses build their digital presence.
Dinesh is driven by his passion to change the course of small business in Australia by helping nearly 100% to get digitally engaged. This he believes will help businesses to grow, fuel economic growth and help resolve unemployment in our country