Everyone I know has a different approach to shopping. Some people scroll through the new arrivals section of their favorite retailers at least once a week. There are also services that specialize in very specific saved eBay searches. While a few planners buy two or three items each season, most admit to being emotional and impulsive buyers. One woman said she hates fitting rooms and never tries on clothes before buying. She returns or resells anything that doesn’t work. When I asked a friend or acquaintance how their shopping was going, someone else answered, “Excuse me.” “Do you have 10 hours?”
There are many strategies, and for good reason. While the prices of luxury goods are rising, the lack of consistency across the e-commerce landscape can make pricing seem exorbitant and arbitrary. The same product may cost more or less depending on where you buy it. But today’s fashion customers are savvy about finding the best deals, and a growing number are certainly using price tracking apps and other tools. “We all spend time online clicking and scrolling through product pages when we don’t have much time,” says Emily Gaunt.
Gaunt is the founder of Radar, a new UK-based app that offers price comparison and tracking across retailer, resale and rental platforms. Look at something online and tap “Put Item on Radar.” The app then scours the shopping platform to find the product’s price where it’s listed and sends push notifications to alert users of price cuts and sales.
It’s intuitive and fun. Within seconds of tapping and adding Bally’s Pathy leather loafers, priced at £760 on Farfetch, the app found them available for £720 on Net-a-porter.com and £697 at the Como-based boutique . (It also told me that the Ulla Johnson dress I bought recently could have been mine for 10% less.) Before you buy elsewhere, check out the platform I always forget. If you check it, no.)
“What we want is for people to use this and say, ‘How did I shop without this?'” Gaunt said. “We’re reducing the need to scroll and click in traditional ways. It all boils down to giving shoppers the ability to make thoughtful, smart shopping decisions and have real control. .”
Radar provides price comparison and tracking across retailer, resale, and rental platforms
The idea for Radar was born out of frustration with a scattergun approach to product wishlists and screenshots, explains Gaunt, a former talent strategy consultant in financial services with no background in fashion or technology. “I wanted to find a solution that would allow me to store all my products in one place, keep track of prices, and compare across markets to find the best place to buy.” She January 2023 We started developing the concept in March 2024 and released an open beta app in March 2024. After six months, the app has about 2,000 users, with repeat users averaging four sessions per week. The core audience is women between the ages of 30 and 35, “shoppers who aren’t tech-savvy, don’t have a lot of time, and want to make sure they don’t waste their money,” Gaunt says.
Incorporating a resale and rental platform is an accomplishment for Radar as few other sites offer this functionality. For Gaunt, that was a top priority “because it’s part of the decision-making process.” If you’re shopping for a wedding and find a self-portrait dress you like for £360, check out Hurr’s rentals for £65 and Vestiaire Collective’s rentals for £220. Please. Your choices have an impact and you have more control over your purchasing decisions. ”
The main challenge is getting people to download yet another app. Most users learned about Radar through word of mouth and influencer activity, and the team directly promoted the app during college freshman week. And while you might expect retailers to look down on platform-agnostic apps that reduce purchasing decisions to pure numbers, “they see the benefits,” Gaunt added. It noted that Radar directs users back to the retailer to complete the transaction.
Radar isn’t the only app that offers price tracking. Lyst allows users to create universal wishlists of products from their favorite stores and sign up for restock alerts. Data-driven shopping app analysts note that searches are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Today, 90% of searches include brand names, and many savvy customers (even those who don’t work in the fashion industry) are searching for specific products, SKU numbers, and seasons. They’re not looking for black flats, they’re looking for Alaïa Strass ballet flats. “People are becoming more brand conscious…[and]understanding what a brand is known for,” says Miyon Im, vice president of product design at Lyst.
At Sourcewhere, you can find items from past and current seasons, including Phoebe Philo Club loafers. . . . . . And this Louis Vuitton x Rei Kawakubo handbag
The most frustrating hurdle in the shopping process may be the dreaded “sold out” tag. When restock alerts and searches across the internet aren’t enough, the most ambitious shoppers turn to sourcing experts, fashion experts who specialize in tracking down hard-to-find items for private clients. I’ve come to rely on it. Until recently, sourcing was a niche activity centered around WhatsApps with personal shoppers (Threads Styling offers this service) and DMs with personal sourcers. It’s now (relatively) more accessible thanks to Sourcewhere, a fashion sourcing app that promises to find fashion items from past and current seasons.
“Our users are incredibly savvy,” says Erica Wright, previously founder and CEO of MyTheresa and Net-a-Porter. “They have already completed the work and looked at certain areas. What we are doing is meeting the evolving tastes of smart luxury consumers who value efficiency and seek a personal experience. is.”
Users make a request in the app and are matched with a procurement expert. Once the expert has found the desired item, the user pays the agreed upon price plus a sourcing fee (usually 10% of the order value) in a secure chat. The network has 50 sourcing professionals, ranging from personal shoppers to archival collectors, including one who exclusively sources Margiela-era items at Hermès and two who source Phoebe Philo-era Celine. (I specialize in this field.) Orders can take 15 minutes (for The Row Mara flats) or 18 months (for the SS 1999 Margiela for Hermès Runway Suit Jacket) to complete. The average order value is £1,100.
Gabe Waller, who sources designer goods for Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Hailey Bieber, says access and convenience are the main reasons shoppers turn to sourcing (Waller also uses Sourcewhere). ). Barriers to entry may be high, especially for high-demand items, whether it’s having to line up for hours to get into a boutique, or expecting a relationship with an existing customer (the dreaded “upfront spend”). “Procurement solves that. And now consumers know more about trends and what’s going on, so they know they can use that to find what they’re looking for.”
An app might do the heavy lifting for you, but would you be proud to wear a sold-out leopard-print Alaia miniskirt? The shopper’s own.
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