Floorr launched earlier this year, reinventing the digital styling experience by empowering personal shoppers and stylists to manage and grow their business in an increasingly competitive environment. Available on the web and iOS devices, Floorr provides tools to make sales, host customized styling sessions, create mood boards, and text and voice chat with clients, all in one place.
The company recently introduced a new styling tool called “Styling Sessions,” which allows stylists to create complete outfit looks using products from The Floorr's marketplace, uploading images of in-store products, or even taking photos on their phone.
Additionally, The Floorr on Thursday formally announced a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round backed by Net-a-Porter co-founder and investor Carmen Busquets (who also serves as an advisor to The Floorr) and jewelry designer and Tabayer founder Nigora Tokhtabayeva.
Styling Sessions Feature Image Credit: App Store Screenshots
Since starting his career as a sales associate at Harrods in 2000 and then heading Net-a-Porter's personal shopping service, founder Lupe Puerta has witnessed a growing trend among luxury brands to adopt digital platforms to enhance the one-to-one styling experience.
Virtual consultations and online styling services are commonplace these days. For example, companies like Next Level Wardrobe, Thread, and Wishi offer digital fashion services. Not to mention, the growing popularity of virtual try-on technology, AI-powered style assistants, and subscription boxes (Stitch Fix, Wantable, DailyLook) make finding curated styles easy.
Lupe PuertaImage courtesy of The Floorr
However, digital solutions for personal stylists, especially freelancers, are relatively limited. “I wanted to create something that the community needed in the form of an app. [helping] “Personal shoppers have the tools to be really agile and create beautiful content in one place and instantly engage with customers,” Puerta told TechCrunch. “Instead of creating a PDF, sending a screenshot on WhatsApp, or sending an email, [The Floorr] It's all in one place, and it gives you access to business and analytics, which makes entrepreneurship even more accessible.”
Another tool available on the platform is a sales dashboard for stylists, which shows analytics such as clicks, orders, items sold, and weekly/monthly revenue.
Stylists and their clients have access to a wide selection of luxury products through partnerships with luxury retailers such as Bergdorf Goodman, Browns, Chloe, Farfetch, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-Porter, Saks and S Sense, and the company continues to expand the list, recently adding more affordable retailers such as Aldo and Zara.
It's worth noting that personal shoppers take 80% commission on sales, while The Floorr takes 20%. This is more than what a personal shopper is estimated to make in a typical retail environment. It depends on who you ask (and what products are being sold). The average retail commission rate for apparel is around 15%. However, for luxury fashion, this rate is likely lower.
Based on his experience, Puerta says, “In traditional private label/multi-brand retail, personal shoppers and customer-facing staff receive a base salary that varies depending on their length of service. They may also receive commission, which is likely to be between 0.5% and 2.5% depending on their length of service and monthly sales.”
The company has hired 200 personal shoppers so far.
On the consumer side, The Floorr enables customers with a penchant for luxury fashion (and the financial means to do so) to connect with stylists to handle their shopping needs remotely, eliminating the need for in-person meetings. Customers must be personally invited by a stylist to use the client-focused app.
Floor's customers are business professionals and Hollywood celebrities, and the company says the average order is $2,500. The highest order this month was $130,000, Puerta noted.
The Android version of the app is scheduled to be released at the end of 2024, and the company also plans to introduce video chat functionality in the near future.