Launched earlier this year, The Floorr has shaken up the digital styling experience by helping personal shoppers and stylists manage and scale their businesses in an increasingly competitive environment. Available on the web and iOS devices, The Floorr provides the tools you need to make sales, host custom styling sessions, create mood boards, and text or voice chat with clients, all in one place.
The company recently launched a new styling tool called “Styling Session,” which allows stylists to create the perfect outfit look by using products from The Floorr’s marketplace, uploading images of store items from their phones, or taking photos.
The Floorr also formally announced a $1.7 million pre-seed funding round on Thursday, with support from 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.
Founder Lupe Puerta began his career as a sales associate at Harrods in 2000 and later took on a leadership role in personal shopping services at Net-a-Porter, where he 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. Companies like Next Level Wardrobe, Thread, and Wishi, for example, offer digital fashion services. With the rise of virtual try-on technology, AI-based style assistants, and subscription boxes (Stitch Fix, Wantable, DailyLook), finding curated looks has become much easier.
But digital solutions for personal stylists, especially freelancers, are still relatively limited. “I wanted to create something that the community needed in the form of an app that would help personal shoppers be really nimble and have the tools to create beautiful content in one place and interact with customers immediately,” Puerta told TechCrunch. “Instead of creating a PDF, sending a screenshot on WhatsApp, or sending an email,[The Floorr]centralizes everything in one place and gives you access to your business and analytics, so you can 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, weekly/monthly revenue, etc.
Stylists and customers have access to a wide range of high-end 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 continues to expand its list, recently adding more affordable retailers such as Aldo and Zara.
Specifically, personal shoppers take 80% of the sale, while The Floorr takes 20%. That’s more than what personal shoppers are expected to earn in a typical retail environment, depending on who you ask (and what they sell). The average retail commission rate for clothing is around 15%. But for high-end fashion, the rate is likely to be lower.
“In a traditional in-house brand/multi-brand retail environment, personal shoppers and customer-facing employees earn a base salary that varies based on seniority,” says Puerta. “They may also earn a commission, which is likely anywhere from 0.5% to 2.5%, again based on seniority and the amount of sales they generate each month.”
The company has so far acquired 200 personal shoppers.
On the consumer side, The Floorr helps customers with a taste for high-end fashion (and the financial resources to enjoy it) connect with stylists to handle their shopping needs remotely, eliminating the need for in-person meetings. Customers must be directly invited by their stylist to use the client-centric app.
Floorr's clientele includes business professionals and Hollywood celebrities. The average order value is $2,500, according to the company. The highest order this month was $130,000, Puerta noted.
An Android version of the app is expected to be released in late 2024, and the company plans to introduce a video chat feature soon.
