The history of E-commerce has been marked by overcoming numerous challenges since its inception a few decades ago. Each hurdle has been gradually surmounted with the introduction of new tools to the tech entrepreneur's repertoire. Ads revolutionized targeting, mobile enhanced penetration, and containers transformed the logistics landscape. However, in this ever-evolving E-commerce ecosystem, fashion discovery remains a persistent challenge.
With an overwhelming array of options and a fragmented market, both consumers and brands have struggled to connect effectively - until now. Enter ALT Fashion, a startup deploying artificial intelligence to create a meta-search engine for fashion, aiming to solve the discovery problem using the power of intent.
From Insight to Innovation
Co-founder Rashida Bohra’s conviction that fashion search is broken, especially due to outdated collections and limited keyword-based search options, led her to dig deeper and she found that globally 6 out of 10 users couldn’t find what they were looking for on fashion marketplaces. This frustration, coupled with the rising trend of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, sparked the idea for ALT Fashion. To bring her vision to life, Rashida teamed up with her brother, Abbas Ali Bohra.
Rashida, an ISB alum, brings a decade of expertise in product and customer strategy in the E-commerce sector, with leadership roles at Amazon and an early team member at Nykaa. Abbas, on the other hand, is an experienced Tech leader - an IIT-B alumnus, he played a key role in scaling technology to 10 million monthly active users (MAUs) as an early team member at Khatabook.
Their approach with ALT Fashion is twofold: aggregation (or collection) and context. By bringing together a vast array of brands on a single platform and employing advanced AI models for contextual search, ALT Fashion is creating a "Spotify for fashion." This approach not only helps consumers find exactly what they're looking for but also provides emerging brands with a platform to reach their target audience without exorbitant customer acquisition costs.
Decoding ALT Fashion's Technology-First Approach
At the heart of ALT Fashion's innovation lies a sophisticated two-sided technology stack:
- ALTRON: An AI-powered system that aggregates and structures data from various brand websites. This fully automated database sets ALT Fashion apart in a market where many competitors rely heavily on manual data entry and enables them to have real-time updated listings
- ALT-ai: A proprietary model mapping user queries and product attributes to the same vector space, addressing the "context" challenge.
Despite being in its early stages, ALT Fashion is showing promising signs of product-market fit. In just a few months since launch, ALT has 100+ brands live on the platform with 200K+ SKUs. With a 90% month-on-month retention, the first version of the platform has already seen over 20K searches.
One of the primary reasons for ALT Fashion’s early traction is the team’s insight that there's a significant amount of latent intent in fashion purchases that isn't being addressed by current platforms. Unlike Google, which relies on metadata tagged by brands, ALT Fashion's AI-driven approach allows for a deeper understanding and categorization of fashion items. This not only helps consumers find exactly what they're looking for but also benefits brands, especially emerging D2C players.
By providing a platform where brands can be discovered based on relevant searches rather than ad spend, ALT Fashion is democratizing fashion E-commerce. This approach allows smaller, innovative brands to compete on a more level playing field, potentially reducing their customer acquisition costs while increasing their visibility to interested consumers.
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Investing in the Future of Fashion E-commerce
Our conviction in ALT Fashion boils down to the following:
- ALT Fashion solves a crucial challenge in fashion e-commerce where 80% of a brand's latest catalog is unavailable on marketplaces. The personalized recommendations bring together multiple brands, making it harder for others to compete while helping experienced shoppers find what they are looking for.
- In their private beta with hundreds of early users, ALT Fashion achieved a 70% repeat rate and an industry-high add-to-cart conversion rate. The MVP, featuring 130,000 live SKUs demonstrates an ability to be ready to scale from Day Zero.
- With current fashion E-commerce sales at ~$16Bn and expected to double in five years, ALT Fashion targets a rapidly growing market opportunity with a clear path to affiliate and intent-based monetization.
- The rising number of affluent shoppers, the emergence of digital natives, and D2C brand growth, along with ONDC-enabled market expansion position ALT Fashion perfectly as a gateway for a new age of fashion commerce.
Rashida adds, "Antler was one of those teams that immediately resonated with what we are building. There were people on the team who just got it. They realized the need for ALT Fashion and were ready to take a bold bet on an innovation-driven play. We are excited to have Antler on board as a global investor who recognizes our potential and is willing to support our vision."
The Road To Becoming The Spotify For Fashion
Looking ahead, the team envisions ALT Fashion becoming "the Spotify for fashion," creating a personalized discovery experience for users while providing brands with unprecedented reach.
Rajiv Srivatsa, Partner at Antler India, adds: "ALT Fashion isn't just solving a current pain point - they're potentially reshaping how we interact with fashion in the digital age. Their approach could unlock significant value for both consumers and brands, especially in the burgeoning D2C space."
As ALT Fashion continues to refine its product and expand its user base, the team will focus on the challenge of scaling while maintaining the quality of its search results and user experience. With this round of funding, they plan to develop their AI models further, expand their catalog, and grow their user base.
The fashion tech landscape is notoriously challenging, but ALT Fashion's unique approach and early traction suggest they may have found a formula that resonates with both consumers and brands. As they continue to iterate and grow, ALT Fashion could become a pivotal player in bridging the gap between fashion-conscious consumers and a diverse array of brands, potentially reshaping the way we explore and interact with fashion in the digital age.
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