A recent discussion with a friend inspired me to share my thoughts on the dating applications market. Many are available but none has yet found the secret recipe to instant love.

Dating apps are common among the 22-35 years old looking for the perfect date that may translate in something more (Digitaltrends, 2017). The most known options are of course Tinder, Happn and OkCupid. But many more exist such as Bumble, Tinder Select or even Innercircle all with features differentiating them from each other; either empowering women to make the first move, or allowing only high end profiles to find each other. As none of them can guarantee finding the perfect love, many dating applications options have developed. This has led to apps specializing in matching people based on a very specific preference or interest. An example of such a niche dating app is Sizzl, which connects people who like bacon. Many of such specific dating apps exist, check this out to see some examples.

A new dating app that I would like to talk about here, is Lime. This app has not launched yet but is expected to launch in the coming days (Digitaltrends, 2017). Their offering matches the digital health hype cycle (KPMG, 2015) where activity trackers are increasingly adopted by consumers hence their proposition may target a large proportion of the community.

Lime matches users based on their Apple’s health or Google’s fitness data. They believe that similar activity levels will mean similar interests. It works quite simply: when you start the app, you can see who is walking around in the neighborhood and look at their respective profiles (a little bit like Tinder). Simultaneously, you can keep track of your own activity level and hence might feel encouraged to walk towards one of the matching profiles. The added feature is that you can see the number of steps he or she is away. Additionally, to tracking your own step count and see how meeting with others may enhance this number, the app allows you to invite others to meet up based on the steps he or she is away and consequently increase your number of steps for the day. Whenever the other accepts your offer you can chat to decide on the exact location and directly meet to grab a coffee or else and of course see whether you are made for each other.

The app has not launched yet so we do not know whether it will be a success, however I have some thoughts about it.

I really think that the matching based on the activity of the user may be a nice feature as people who are highly active throughout the day may also need to find a significant other which can keep up with such a high activity level. Same holds for people who are less active. However, I have my concerns about the instant meeting up feature. In theory, it sounds cool but I am not sure whether in practice it would work.

Primarily, I think that users will not necessarily meet up instantly. It is possible to talk to each other without having to meet right away. This is undermining the concept of the application but will certainly happen as some people may feel that they need to change their clothes, or freshen up before meeting up. Hence, I do not believe that the steps feature will be so unique that people would want to switch from a dating app such as Tinder or Happn to this one proposed under the name Lime.

 

References

KPMG, 2015. How is Technology changing Healthcare? | KPMG. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kpmgtechgrowth.co.uk/how-is-tech-changing-healthcare/. [Accessed 10 March 2017].

Digital Trends, 2017. The 8 Best Dating Apps for 2017 | Digital Trends. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-dating-apps/. [Accessed 10 March 2017].

Lime – Hyper local lifestyle dating App. 2017. Lime – Hyper local lifestyle dating App. [ONLINE] Available at: http://lime.dating/. [Accessed 10 March 2017].

Karissa Bell, 2017. Tinder is testing a secret version of the app for the rich, famous and hot. [ONLINE] Available at: http://mashable.com/2017/03/07/tinder-select-secret-app/?utm_cid=hp-r-13#IPJ696kFt5q9. [Accessed 10 March 2017].

The online access to clothing has enabled the emergence of many new business models within the fashion industry. We see subscription models that allow the customer to rent clothing for a fixed period (Rent The Runway) or a platform connecting stylists with customers to get personal styling advice (Keaton Row). At Stitch Fix, which is a US based firm, the website offers its customers the expertise of a stylist to buy new products. You are required to sign up, give some background information on yourself, on the style that you like, the type of items you are interested in and your size. After that the stylist will pick out a selection of products and the customer just has to wait for the package to land at the door.

Initially this business model was developed to serve the young professionals or executives who do not have the time to go shopping in store or online. But it appears that also people with less busy agendas are interested in the service as it allows you to have the help of a stylist when choosing pieces amidst the high number of available products (Drell, 2014).

The large variety of products available online has made it hard to choose which piece to buy.

At Stitch Fix the stylist will, based on your preferences and requests, show you the items she has picked. You can then give feedback and decide which items you want to try at home. Once you receive the package at home you can try and keep or send back the items you finally do not like (free of charge). You can personalize your demands according to your needs, your budget and the brands you love.

The styling advice costs $20 but as soon as you buy the pieces offered you do not have to pay it. This makes the barrier to use the service very low as the service provided ends up free of charge. You only pay the price of each piece that you decide to buy.

Based on what you buy the stylist can improve her recommendations and hence understand your preferences better every time you place an order. The platform also allows you to schedule the frequency of the package delivery, making it possible to systematically buy new products at the requested interval.

The advantages are the convenience of a stylist helping you to choose the best product, at whatever time, for the budget you want to spend and only paying for what you really like and keep.

In comparison with business models that allow you to rent clothing at a fraction of the purchase price this business offers you still the possibility to own the pieces and not having to return them afterwards. Renting pieces is attractive when you are looking for a piece for a special occasion, a one-time event. Whereas Stitch Fix allows you to buy products you love for every day without having to spend time searching webpages or clothing stores to find it.

The supplier side of the business also encounters many advantages. Stitch Fix can create very precise consumer profiles based on the purchases they have made and the feedback they have given the stylist. This gives the company valuable knowledge about why certain products work better than others. And this can be of use to the clothing industry to better serve the customer’s needs. Whether Stitch Fix works closely with producers is not known but it could be an option to expand its revenue stream.

Stitch Fix does not deliver its services outside of the US but if you are interested in trying it out, a European alternative exists developed by Zalando, and called Zalon.

 

References

 

Drell, L, 2014, 17 Unique Business Models Shaking Up the Marketplace. [ONLINE] Available at: http://mashable.com/2014/06/16/unique-business-models/#zZbyly5Qugqd. [Accessed 01 March 2017].