Pixibo’s ‘Netflix for fashion’ scores fresh funding

Pixibo co-founders Karthik Srinavasan (L) and Rohit Kumar (R) / Photo credit: Pixibo

Singapore-based Pixibo wants to solve two of fashion ecommerce’s major pain points: converting site visits into purchases and reducing the number of returned items.

Co-founders Rohit Kumar and Karthik Srinivasan identified garment sizing as the root cause of both problems. While shopping for clothes online means that people don’t have to leave the comfort of their homes, it also makes it more difficult for them to ensure they’re buying something that actually fits them. As anyone who’s ever shopped for clothes knows, a medium-sized dress from one brand might be a large at another.

Since online customers can’t physically try on the clothes they’re buying, there’s a higher risk that they might have to return their purchases – which adds costs and leaves shoppers unsatisfied.

See: Ex-Googler’s startup gets funding to solve ‘online fashion’s oldest problem’

Pixibo released its first product last year, prior to landing pre-series A funding. Named Pi, it’s a web app that helps consumers find which size garments are the best fit for them, regardless of brand or manufacturer.

But size-and-fit was just “an opening act for us,” Kumar tells tells Tech in Asia. Having just closed its series A round and hit US$1 million in annual recurring revenue, Pixibo is gearing up for what it hopes will be the main event.

Age of discovery

The startup is moving into new territory with its next product – a digital personal shopper that sifts through ecommerce sites to suggest items based on a customer’s physical attributes, stated preferences, and previous purchases.

“Think of it as a Netflix for fashion,” Kumar says. “My playlist is completely different to my wife’s. And I think fashion ecommerce should be taking a leaf out of that book.”

Browsing for clothes online can be a laborious process of trawling through tens – if not hundreds – of garments that are irrelevant to the shopper because they are the wrong size, wrong style, or wrong color. It’s little wonder that a lot of would-be buyers run out of time, or simply give up, without making a purchase.

Pixibo’s new discovery engine is able to curate online inventories so that shoppers only see clothes that they are likely to be interested in buying.

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Clients are already seeing an uplift in conversions from implementing Pi, with Netherlands site Shoeby reporting conversion rates about 70 percent higher since it introduced the app. Another Netherlands e-tailer, JoshV, said it had seen a 23 percent reduction in return rates.

Pixibo’s discovery tool can further improve both conversion and returns rates, Kumar claims.

Japanese investors