Launched earlier this year, The Floorr aims to revolutionize the digital styling experience by empowering personal shoppers and stylists to manage and grow their businesses in an increasingly competitive environment. Available on web and iOS devices, The Floorr offers tools to make sales, schedule personalized styling sessions, create mood boards, and engage in text or voice conversations with clients, all in one place.
The company recently launched a new styling tool called “Styling Sessions,” allowing stylists to create complete outfits using products from The Floorr’s marketplace or by uploading images or taking photos of items in-store on their phone.
Additionally, The Floorr officially announced its $1.7 million pre-seed funding round on Thursday, backed by Net-a-Porter co-founder and investor Carmen Busquets (who is also an advisor to The Floorr) and Nigora Tokhtabayeva, jewelry designer and founder of Tabayer.
Since starting her career as a sales associate at Harrods in 2000 and then moving into a leadership role for Net-a-Porter’s personal shopping service, founder Lupe Puerta has seen a growing trend among luxury brands embracing digital platforms to enhance the one-on-one styling experience.
Virtual consultations and online styling services are commonplace these days. For example, companies like Next Level Wardrobe, Thread, and Wishi, among others, offer digital fashion services. Not to mention, the growing popularity of virtual try-on technologies, AI-powered styling assistants, and subscription boxes (Stitch Fix, Wantable, and DailyLook) are making it much easier to find tailored looks.
However, digital solutions for personal stylists, especially freelancers, remain relatively limited. “I wanted to create what my community needed in the form of an app by helping personal shoppers have the tools to be really agile and create quality content in one place and have that instant interaction with clients,” Puerta told TechCrunch. “Instead of creating PDFs, sending screenshots on WhatsApp or sending an email,[The Floorr]centralizes everything in one place and gives them access to their business and analytics, which allows them to be more entrepreneurial.”
Another tool available on the platform is a sales dashboard for stylists, which displays analytics such as total clicks, orders, items sold, and weekly/monthly earnings.
Stylists and their clients have access to a wide selection of luxury items, thanks to partnerships with high-end retailers, such as Bergdorf Goodman, Browns, Chloé, Farfetch, Neiman Marcus, Net-a-Porter, Saks and SSense. The company will continue to expand its list.
Personal shoppers typically earn an 80% commission on sales, while The Floorr takes 20%. This is higher than what personal shoppers earn in traditional retail stores, and it varies depending on who you ask (and what products they sell). The average commission rate for clothing is around 15%. However, for luxury fashion, the rate is likely lower.
According to Puerta, from his own experience, “in a traditional retail environment, personal shoppers and customer-facing staff receive a base salary that varies depending on their seniority. They may also receive a commission, which will likely be between 0.5% and 2.5%, and again will depend on their seniority and the amount of sales they generate each month.”
The company has already integrated 200 personal shoppers.
On the consumer side, The Floorr helps customers who love luxury fashion (and have the financial resources to indulge in it) connect with a stylist to fulfill their shopping needs remotely, eliminating the need for in-person meetings. Customers must be personally invited by a stylist to use the customer-facing app.
Floorr’s clientele includes business professionals and Hollywood celebrities. The average order value is $2,500, according to the company. The largest order this month was $130,000, Puerta noted.
An Android version of the app is slated for late 2024, and the company also plans to introduce video chat features in the near future.
Updated 7/26/24 at 10:55 a.m. ET with the correction that Aldo and Zara are not on the platform.
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