Spring, the shopping app launched in August 2014 succeeded in what all other shopping apps have not succeed in: making buying clothes on your smartphone easy and fun. The app raised $7.5 million in capital from some of the fashion and tech industries’ biggest players.
Most reviewers have been positive, citing the app’s seamless interface, and impressive roster of brands – from Opening Ceremony to Jason Wu to Levi’s – with of course, universal checkout. HUGE. Skeptics have posed questions like: Do brands have enough products to properly populate a feed? And if Instagram ever initiates live links, then what good will Spring be?
Spring launched with 250 brands and within a month there were 450 active on the app, so brands have being added very quickly. According to Spring CEO Alan Tisch, “Right now, we have brands in every category, because we wanted to reflect the high-low way people really shop.”
Spring’s feed is one that looks similar to Instagram’s feed. Users can follow brands that they like, and brands post images of their products.
Spring charges a relatively low commission fee, with a $0 monthly fee. One brand has stated, “it’s not like we have to sell tons and tons and tons to justify the cost and or effort, Spring is like all icing on the cake.” Spring works with each brand to figure out how many times a day it makes sense to post, which is dependent on the amount of inventory the brand keeps – which likewise makes it difficult for the smaller, startup companies. One of the startup designers has complained that the time spent shooting images for Spring hasn’t been worth it. Top selling categories include jewelry, accessories, tops, and shoes.
As of now we should keep our sights on Spring to see what it accomplishes, but it looks like it has some exciting potential!