Browzzin AI shopping app aims to shake up fashion retail

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 2, 2018

A new fashion shopping app launched in London on Tuesday and is claiming that it will “disrupt the trillion dollar fashion industry,” using artificial intelligence, making online and offline product easily available, avoiding e-shopping pain points and empowering users to earn money from their content. 

Called Browzzin, it mixes editorial content with aspects of a traditional aggregate shopping site model (such as that operated by Shopstyle or Lyst) and also adds in a social shopping element that allows individuals to make money from the products shots they upload when sales are made based on those images.

The brainchild of Zalora co-founder, Harry Markl, it’s backed by L Catterton Asia.

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Browzzin claims to take “all the best aspects of existing platforms, supports it with proprietary AI technology and injects a ground breaking off-line inventory discovery feature to create a win-win situation for all.”

The idea is that every uploaded shot, from fashion snap to home selfie, automatically becomes a shoppable billboard.

As users purchase products, “the ‘influencer’ who shared the inspiration on Browzzin will collect commission as a reward for sharing with the community,” the company said. Users can also access all relevant marketing and sales statistics and keep track of how much they have earned on the app in real time. 

And the Browzzin PartnerApp for retailers is also a key part of the new offer with the company saying that “while other players aggregate online fashion sites only, the PartnerApp opens up vast inventory sitting in offline stores.”

Retailers can sign up to the PartnerApp to activate their inventory and receive order requests from Browzzin shoppers. The seller carrying the requested product closest to the shopper’s current location confirms its availability, Browzzin then informs the customer and the customer collects. 

The company said this will help shoppers access items that might be listed as sold out on regular e-commerce platforms while also driving footfall to stores. 

Markl said: “The offline discovery function is increasing the inventory available to users more than tenfold, as compared to pure online aggregation. Typically, popular items are sold out quickly across all online stores, while local bricks and mortar stores are still holding stock that is currently digitally not discoverable. Our PartnerApp is driving online traffic to offline stores without the need for any investment on their part.”

He said the PartnerApp “has already secured considerable interest from key brands [and] is scheduled to roll out in the coming weeks.”

Overall, Browzzin features over 2 million products at launch, including high-end through to contemporary and high street brands with the inventory continuously updated for real-time availability. 

The AI comes into play by recognising product and removing the need to tag items manually to make them searchable. 

“Similar products of inspiring outfits are found seamlessly, in just seconds, thanks to our technology, which allows our users to spend their time creating great content,” said Zean Vo, the firm’s other co-founder. 

Meanwhile, Ravi Thakran, who is group president of LVMH South & South East Asia and Australia/NZ as well as being chairman and managing partner of L Catterton Asia, added that “Browzzin launches at a defining point in retail history and seeks to address some of the pain points in fashion retail in particular.” 

He said the combination of “the team’s track record, and their holistic approach to addressing some of the biggest challenges fashion businesses are experiencing today, led me to become an investor in Browzzin.”