In recent years here at So Catchy! we’ve seen an uptick in the number of online fashion search engines. The Spanish Drestip and Fashiola from Holland are just some of the new platforms that bring traffic to the official sites for brands and the products they carry in order to fulfill orders, receiving a commission on every sale.
But if there is one that stands out from the rest, it’s Love the Brands, and it’s all thanks to knowing how to turn big data into a business.
Just like previous platforms, Love the Brands lets users search for and buy products from different labels on a single portal, their business model is not focused only on the commissions generated by sales, but providing consulting services based on the large amount of data traffic they manage.
The big disadvantage for labels with products for sale on any platform is not the extra costs or reduced profit, rather it is the loss of client information and all of the data that is generated by navigating through their site while shopping, information such as who they are and where they live, how they became clients and which products they are most interested in.
So who is taking advantage of this information? The different platforms, of course, turning them into direct competitors and, as a result, a threat to the individual brands they offer. A good example of this trend is Amazon, who have taken advantage of the data generated by the traffic to their platform to launch their own product lines (Find, Aurique). And this is exactly the problem that Love the Brands is trying to solve, by offering brands aggregate information and data statistics about the users who navigate the platform, helping them to take advantage of new opportunities and make strategic decisions.
Love the Brands currently operates in the UK, France, Germany and Spain, offering a wide variety of labels from Acne Studios to Alexander McQueen and even Mango and Zara.
Understanding the behavior of online shoppers is essential for the success of any business and Big Data is key to this process as it provides information about trends, client preferences and the most popular products.
Businesses from all over the world are lining up to take advantage of the opportunities offered by big data and the fashion industry is no exception. Collecting and analyzing data should be a priority for any label and the services of Love the Brands, who are acutely aware of this fact, are helping labels adapt to changes in real time and compete with the e-commerce giants.
Isabel Mor, Coolhunter in the Coolhunting Group for So Catchy!
Translation and layout by Michael Padilla
