Wardrobe has launched today in Kenya to bring the entire world of fashion—high and low—online in a move to revolutinize fashion in the country and the continent at large.
Founded by Brian Busolo and Sharon Mokua, Wardrobe wants to be an Uber of fashion and is the first of its kind fashion app that is trying to do what it’s doing.
“It’s clear mobile is the future of commerce, but for whatever reason, shopping on your phone simply isn’t as easy as summoning an Uber,” said Busolo. “We were frustrated by having to download multiple apps or visit countless ecommerce sites and Facebook pages just to get that perfect item.”
“We found this experience gruesome, tiring and clearly not the best shopping experience.Wardrobe solves this problem by creating a fun, fast and easy way for customers to shop directly from numerous stores,” Busolo added.
Unlike other stores which are fixated solely on brands, Busolo says Wardrobe gives the average shopper an opportunity to purchase from all kinds of stores carrying various brands and with varied prices.
“Forget the cliché online stores that take the fun out of your shopping, we are bringing life to our online store by allowing you to browse through a large variety of items, share items you like with your friends, get comments and likes that will guide you in making the right choice,” Busolo told TechMoran.
By allowing friends see what friends are buying or liking Busolo says Wardrobe becomes a fashion discovery tool showcasing users amazing items constantly from the app. Wardrobe’s target is the techsavvy shopper who is always connected, and very plugged in. To capture a huge audience the app works a lot like Instagram.
A users chooses what they want to follow amongst the hundreds of stores including stores and designers near them, and then there’s a scroll of imagery in their feed that’s constantly updating and so addictive to look at. Each shop controls what’s featured—from the imagery to the number of items available. A users can like items or save them for later use, or share them with friends and family.
There are also various categories to choose from and sellers can also upload their items with four awesome photos for users to buy from.
Like what fashion bloggers do, the marketplace allows users to share their daily looks with their friends helping them to keep up with trends in their circles. There is a trending trending section with top items and stores that your connections are checking out .
Wardrobe also lists those cool boutiques in malls, so next time you are at the mall and would like to have a quick look at what’s selling near you, you can find anything in the app.
“We let you check out stores that are near you helping you discover and browse their listed items. Just imagine the most techsavvy and fun fashion app in Kenya on your phone,” concludes Busolo.
Fashion has been hard sel in Kenya with malls selling stuff way cheaper than online stores. Closet49, a fashion marketplace build by some cool ladies in Nairobi has failed to reach the critical mass needed for it scale but Wardrobe looks awesome. However, its success will depend on various things, including which stores and which users sign up at first. The cool the first adopters, the faster the sales and then some more!