ModCloth
is an online retailer based in San Francisco. The company offers
clothing and accessories from 600 independent designers. Part of their
stock is decided by a feature launched in 2009 called Be the Buyer. The
program lets customers vote on which designs the company should offer.
The votes and comments, evaluated by custom “sentiment analysis” tools,
help predict demand, a huge advantage in the world of fashion retail.
“The way most of the industry works is, they produce a design on a large scale, then they send it out to stores and hope customers buy it,” Eric Koger says. “Ours is a more lean and agile approach. We involve the customer and get feedback earlier in the process.”
Now
the company is launching a clothing line designed by ModCloth’s own
customers. In November of 2011, ModCloth held a contest called Make the
Cut which invited customers to send in sketches. The contest drew more
than 1,900 design entries over a two week period. Voting was done on the
company’s Facebook page and elicited more than 1,000 comments. Seven
winners were chosen to have their designs produced.
The
line goes on sale this spring with an initial run of 200 dresses of the
seven winning designs. The winners won’t receive any percentage of the
sales. Instead, each will receive a $500 prize and their names will also
appear on the labels.
The
contest is the first of what ModCloth hopes will be many new ways to
engage customers and better target their tastes. If the initial runs
sell well, future contests might include shares of the profits for the
designers.
Thats absolutely amazing! Check out the dresses! Well... I have a crush on the dresses, so... brilliant idea!
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