The Mesh - Lisa Gansky [15]
Within a year of launching, thredUP’s membership exploded to 9,000. Men and women exchanged shirts and blouses after signing up for a free membership. Members list clothing items they want to swap and items they want to receive in their “exchange closet.” ThredUP then sells mailers to use in the exchange (the first two cost $5 total, and subsequent groups of three cost $25). When members send the mailer with their clothes to thredUP, the company validates the clothing’s quality and promptly sends clothes of equal value in return.
ThredUP members were pleased with the transactions—80 percent satisfied that what they received was better than what they gave away—but soon alerted the company to a bigger niche: children’s clothing. The founders, who are customers themselves and deep listeners, have followed the suggestion. The company has now shifted to a focus on kids. Clearly, children are on a growth plan—every six months or so they need a whole new wardrobe!
Members enjoy getting a package in the mail with “new” clothes. It arrives and feels like a gift; you know it’s for you, but you’re not exactly sure what awaits.
If you’re wondering whether your wardrobe is ripe for an exchange, take thredUP’s nifty questionnaire to figure out just how much money the clothes you’re not using are worth. ThredUP uses an algorithm to calculate how many articles of clothing you might have to swap, the dollar value, and how much money you might spend at thredUP to refresh your closet.
For taste testing, the owners devised a flavor wheel consisting of what they call the inherent flavors in cacao: chocolaty, fruity, nutty, floral, earthy, and citrus. Since TCHO somewhat fanatically manages the sources, harvesting, and manufacturing of its own chocolate, the company can respond quickly to customer taste tests. Businesses like TCHO and thredUP continually ask: Are there other services or products you’d like us to provide? Are there other brands that you’re keen on? How else can we make your life simpler, less costly, and more enjoyable?
from the digital to the physical.
Every day, more parts of the physical world join data networks. Increasingly, usage and location information from multiple sources—including embedded chips, mobile GPS, RFID tracking of goods, and UPC codes—can be fused with data collected from the Web to create digital portraits of customer preferences, including what brands they trust. Adding location data is a critical step. The new networks do not manage only strictly digital products, such as e-books; they can now connect you to physical products and services, like a hot meal (which to date can only be digitalized on Star Trek).
OpenTable, for example, is a restaurant reservation system with a mobile phone app. Say you’re leaving a movie downtown. The mobile phone app will locate where you are standing and map nearby restaurants with available tables. You can look over the menu and reviews, get directions, and make a reservation while you’re headed toward the restaurant. The mobile network locates and connects you in time and space with a physical place, the restaurant. The social network, in the form of online reviews by other diners and friends, informs your choice. If you text a note to the restaurant, you might find a physical product—perhaps a dish of spicy Szechuan noodles—hot and waiting when you arrive. Meanwhile, OpenTable and its network of restaurants learn over time, particularly if you send in reviews, which restaurants you, or people like you, prefer. They collect information that allows them to make more relevant and timely offers in the future, customized for you. It’s a bit like having a personal concierge living in your phone who knows your favorite table and drink. For restaurants, the system improves their ability to predict traffic and inventory, which makes operations more efficient, and helps fill tables by offering time-specific promotions.
Similarly, Volkswagen recently launched the “App