Future Commerce The Yes: App? Department Store? Personal Shopper? Well. Yes. - feat. Julie Bornstein, CEO & Co-Founder at The Yes
Jun 5, 2020
54:57
Today, Brian sits down with Julie Bornstein, former COO of Stitch Fix, currently launching the personally curated shopping app, The Yes. What is The Yes? How does an AI-integrated shopping app differ from traditional retail or eCommerce experiences?
THE YES AND THE NEED FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION
- Julie has been working in the industry since the beginning of eCommerce and has always seen new ideas and opportunities which are now finally possible through technology.
- The Yes is an AI-shopping app which makes a consumer’s shopping experience more efficient, personal, and relevant.
- The Yes features a conglomerate of products from different brands, asking consumers questions to find and personally curate their own personal style and experience in-app.
- Think of Spotify, but for shopping. There’s not one style that’s preferred or featured more than another - it’s an experience in which anyone can find their own specific niche. The Yes does this by focusing on user experience while supporting brands and their relationships to their consumers.
OFF-BRAND, NAME-BRAND, AND A PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE
- There is a lack of trust in off-brand clothing because of its variance in size, style, fit, etc.
- The Yes is focusing on name-brand products and helping brands to establish trust and alignment between brands and consumers - an example of this is in The Yes mixing DTC brands and traditional brands all within the app.
- Every product has its own very intricate taxonomy that relates it to other products.
- Launching during COVID-19 helped the Yes to sit with their initial product and spend time adding features that originally were not going to be included in the initial version.
- “Adversity spurs innovation and adoption of that innovation.” During COVID, the physical retail experience has become non-existent so eCommerce has had to shift to becoming a more immersive experience. The Yes fits that needed role as a fashion curation by blending AI and human facilitation.
BRANDS MENTIONED:
Amazon
Spotify