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Pronti AI: The Vintage Advantage

Cailee Moy

Ryerson University

FSN105 Fashion Systems I – Fall 2021

Fashion Startup Case Study Assignment

Prof. Robert Ott

December 3, 2021
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Pronti AI: The Vintage Advantage

Executive Summary

Pronti AI is a fashion start-up that launched a smart wardrobe assistant app in June 2021

with 2,600 downloads to date. The app gives users recommendations on what to wear and what

to buy based on the clothes already in their closet, their style preferences, and choices with the

purpose of reducing decision fatigue, boosting confidence, and improving mindfulness about

clothing. The app has a competitive advantage as it uses artificial intelligence (AI) technology,

which differentiates it from other similar apps. Pronti’s objective is to develop some creative

solutions that will acquire new users and increase the engagement of existing users, thereby

improving user retention.

The proposed solution revolves around the idea of incorporating resale and vintage

clothing into the app. There’s little doubt of the growing importance of the circular fashion

economy. More and more, young consumers are becoming more conscious of and deliberate

with their buying practices. They are embracing resale because they care about their environment

and sustainability is one of their core values. This demographic of consumer is very well

educated and connected and has the power to make lasting changes and apply pressure on

businesses and government to act on these issues. If Pronti AI targets this sector of consumers,

they will certainly attract many more users that have huge buying potential.

To implement this solution, Pronti AI will need to link their app to some of the most

popular resale and consignment apps such as DePop, Vestiaire Collective, ThredUp, Poshmark

and The RealReal. Also, by collaborating with local influencers such as Bridget Brown or Ethan

Glenn who already have an established relationship with their target users, they will be able to

increase their credibility, thereby improving engagement and retention of their users.
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Objectives

The Fashion Startup Pronti AI launched its app on Apple’s App Store in June 2021 and to

date, has 2,600 downloads. An app is considered to be successful, or at least have a chance at

success, if it receives 500 or more downloads a day in the App Store Free market with organic

traffic (Khomych, 2021). With over 30,000 IOS apps released on the App Store every month,

competition for your attention is fierce. The fashion app sector is no exception, and it is saturated

with wardrobe assistant apps, such as My Dressing, Closet Space, Style Book, Closet and the list

goes on and on. Although Pronti AI launched a new feature, “Shop with Closet” in October and

the app uses AI, which provides it with a competitive advantage over similar apps, it has still not

translated into success in the form of downloads. Pronti AI needs to find ways to acquire new

users and to increase their engagement and retention.

My proposed solution is to launch a new feature directed at a specific target market, the

second hand and vintage clothing shopper. This market sector is growing exponentially faster

than the primary market. By clearly defining the “user persona” of this target market, such as

age, gender, education, occupation, interests, values, personality, common concerns, and habits,

it will be easier to find and acquire the right users and to retain them as well (Genie, 2019).

By implementing this solution and drilling down on this specific market sector, Pronti AI

will be able to attract many more users to download its app. If this demographic feels that the

app serves an important purpose and addresses an issue that is important to their life, then they

will continue to use it, thereby achieving the desired retention. Also, as this Gen Z sector is

traditionally hyperconnected and socially savvy, they will in turn share their enthusiasm for the

app with their friends, thereby also enticing them to download the app.
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Project Alternatives

A feature that could be added to the Pronti app is the selling of vintage clothing. This

would align with the existing business model as the app already collaborates with other clothing

retailers, but it would add another dimension to it. Tapping into the vintage market opens the

door to so many new customers. According to a 2019 report by the major online resale website

ThredUp, the second-hand apparel market is growing 21x faster than the primary market (Tudor,

2019). As shown in Figure 1, the second-hand market is projected to double in the next five

years, reaching an astonishing $77 billion. Many brands are taking sustainable steps when

engaging with the fashion market. In 2019, luxury department store Selfridges implemented

Vestiaire Collective’s vintage and second-hand selection into their women’s designer section.

CEO of Vestiaire Collective, Max Bittner quotes: “Responding to changes within the consumer

landscape, this partnership aims to raise awareness of the importance of circular fashion in order

to drive positive long-lasting change in the fashion industry” (Tudor, 2019). It would be foolish

of the Pronti app developers to ignore this up-and-coming market, as it is the future of the

fashion industry. Not only would this feature appeal to a whole new set of people, but it would

also attract a whole new demographic. Gen Z has proven themselves to be one of the most

influential demographics - whatever they say goes. An overwhelming population of Gen Z’s

have expressed that they prefer to shop only second-hand, sustainable fashion, not fast fashion.

For this reason, adding links to vintage clothing in Pronti AI would open up a huge door for new

customers. In 2020, Forbes Magazine writer Shep Hyken quoted that:

This generation is a group of diverse, hyperconnected, short-attention span influencer who

are a force in the business across industries, brands and digital platforms. Gen Z is the
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number one generation to write positive things online, to recommend brands and so forth.

If you win them and their friends, it’s a huge opportunity.

A second feature the Pronti AI app could incorporate would be to make the app

interactive. Figure 2 shows a study conducted by Statisa, showing the most popular social

networks worldwide as of October 2021 are Facebook, Youtube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and

Facebook Messenger. This graph clearly demonstrates that the most popular platforms are all

social. People love to interact with their friends and favorite celebrities to see what they are

wearing and doing. So, if Pronti AI could include a social aspect to the app, it would become

a lot more popular. Pronti AI’s goal is for the app to become a part of people’s everyday lives

and social apps tend to be the only apps that people use daily. This could become a

particularly popular feature as everyone who uses the app has a similar interest, clothing!

Talking and sharing your closet is a fun, interactive way to meet new people and bond over a

shared interest. Adding this feature would certainly bring in new customers and convince

returning customers to linger on the app for longer. A social feature in the app may also spark

referrals. Word of mouth is the best kind of advertising. Figure 3 shows that 33% of people

said the reason they usually download an app is because it was recommended by someone.

Winning your audience’s trust and gaining a following can be extremely difficult, especially

when your app is just entering the market (Bonnie, 2020). That’s why referrals play a huge

role in brand awareness. If happy app users mention to all their friends how they can share

their outfit ideas and interact with each other on the Pronti AI app, their friends will also be

enticed to download the app, thereby increasing the app’s popularity. In conclusion, the

incorporation of vintage clothing and addition of social interaction in the Pronti AI app will

allow the start-up to achieve its goal of attracting new users and engaging existing ones.
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Solution

In my opinion, the inclusion of vintage fashion in the Pronti AI app will be the best

solution to acquire new users and increase user engagement and retention. “Vintage fashion”

generated more than 35,000 new searches on popular online shopping website Lyst, and entries

for second-hand related keywords increased by 104% (Farra, 2021). Besides the fact that the

vintage market makes up a large portion of fashion consumers, vintage is also more ethical and

sustainable. Vogue writer Emily Farra notes that “Maybe those citizens are thinking deeply about

their carbon footprint for the first time, or they were inspired by the efforts of their favorite

brands” (2021). Luxury fashion brands used to avoid the resale community, but now they are

embracing it. Gucci launched a collaboration with major resale brand The RealReal and Coach’s

spring 2021 collection was styled with items from seasons past. Notably, Giorgio Belloli of

online retail store Farfetch quotes: “A lot of [brands] have been buying or selling pre-owned

goods in the past few years, so we decided to introduce this service. We’re seeing that circularity

is providing [customer] retention on our site, but it’s also helping with customer acquisition.”

(Sutherland, 2019). The major spike in customer acquisition and retention on Farfetch’s website

proves that the incorporation of vintage clothing in Pronti AI’s app is a great idea. The circular

economy is the future of fashion and if Pronti AI wants to succeed and remain relevant, they

would be smart to participate. Another reason that people love shopping vintage is that the pieces

are unique! Vintage shopping is like a treasure hunt. It entices customers to return to resale apps,

in the hopes of finding that perfect piece. The beauty of the process is that you never know when

you will find it, so you just have to keep coming back and keep looking. Not only will this bring

in a new clientele of app users, but it will also appeal to current users who love vintage too.
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Lastly, it is well known that the fashion and garment industry has disastrous impacts on

the environment. In most of the countries where garments are made, untreated toxic wastewaters

from textile factories are dumped directly into rivers. These toxins harm sea life and ultimately

humans as some toxins find their way into our bodies through seafood. The fashion industry

accounts for 10% of global pollution (Kimbrough, 2020). Professor Kirsi Niinimaki at Aalto

University has said “Clothing has become so cheap. Someone has to pay that price… often it is

at the expense of the environment.” (Kimbrough, 2020). Shockingly, fashion brand Burberry has

burned or destroyed more than $110 million worth of unsold clothing, perfumes, and accessories

between 2013 and 2018 because they didn’t want to risk devaluing the brand by selling the items

at a discounted price. Sam Hartstock, director of education at ReMake, a non-profit organization

that educates the public about the human rights violations and climate injustices associated with

the fashion industry stated that “We are tossing away our clothing like single-use plastics, like

fast food… Designers and companies are designing clothing for obsolescence.” (ReMake, 2020).

The fashion industry also accounts for using about 20% of global wastewater every year

(Kimbrough, 2020). Cotton is notoriously known as a very water intensive crop to grow.

Growing enough cotton for one pair of jeans requires more than 2,500 litres of water, which is

roughly enough drinking water for a single person for three and a half years (Kimbrough, 2020).

Figure 4 demonstrates the environmental impact of a new versus used clothing item. All these

statistics should not be ignored when purchasing a new clothing item, as our purchasing habits

directly impact our earth. I urge the Pronti AI app developers to acknowledge these statistics and

to encourage their users to be eco-friendly and to shop more sustainably. If the Pronti AI app

includes the sale of vintage clothing, not only will it open the door to a whole new target

audience, but it will also benefit the planet.

Implementation

My recommendations to incorporate vintage clothing into the Pronti AI app would be to

provide links to vintage sellers and to collaborate with small influencers to endorse the app.

There is already an online shopping feature within the app, so adding some vintage sellers to the

roster would not be too difficult. There are so many popular and well-established re-sale apps

and websites such as Poshmark, DePop, ThredUp, Vestiaire Collective and The RealReal. The

Pronti AI app could incorporate listings from these websites into the shopping section for users

to browse and shop. Pronti AI can keep their unique filter that caters to your exact closet, but

now it can also include vintage. The app can link second-hand listings to another popular website

so the customer can purchase the item. This way the Pronti AI app is still a one-stop shop.

Engaging smaller fashion influencers could really increase the awareness of the app.

Figure 5 shows that 42.9% of brands find micro influencers most effective because they are cost

effective, more authentic, and have a better relationship with target customers. It even states that

48% of influencers would work with a brand for free if they really loved it. The Pronti AI team

should reach out to some micro influencers and introduce them to the app. If they are not willing

to endorse the app for free, the Pronti AI team could entice them with some free items from one

of their vintage resellers or offer them a small amount of money. Small, local influencers are

generally receptive to working with smaller brands and start-ups. I would recommend partnering

with local Toronto-based influencer Bridget Brown. She has gained a following on TikTok from

posting thrift hauls and try-on videos. Another great partnership would be with Toronto

influencer Ethan Glenn, who has also become popular from TikTok. He posts styling tips and

unboxing videos all while running his own sustainable clothing company. Both implementation

tactics could be completed in under six months.

References

Bonnie, E. (2020, November 2). Mobile User Acquisition: 10 Powerful Ways to Attract New

Users. CleverTap. https://clevertap.com/blog/mobile-user-acquisition/

Farra, E. (2020, November 21). 2020 Was a Big Year for Old Clothes: How Vintage,

Secondhand Fashion, and Upcycling Took Off. Vogue.

https://www.vogue.com/article/the-year-in-secondhand-vintage-upcycling-sustainable-

fashion

Genie, G. (2019, June 24). How to Find Your Target Audience for Mobile Apps. App Radar.

https://appradar.com/blog/how-to-find-your-target-audience-for-mobile-apps

Hyken, S. (2020, October 18). The Influence Of Gen Z. Forbes.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2020/10/18/gen-z-your-most-influential-

customers/?sh=2687631810ef

Khomych, A. (2021, September 16). Mobile User Acquisition: How to Get Users for Your App.

GetSocial. https://blog.getsocial.im/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-a-mobile-user-

acquisition-strategy/

Kimbrough, L. (2021, May 4). Trendy, cheap, and dirty: Fashion is a top global polluter.

Mongabay Environmental News. https://news.mongabay.com/2020/04/trendy-cheap-and-

dirty-fashion-is-a-top-global-polluter/

Ott, R. (2021, November 5). Pronti AI Slideshow [Slides]. D2L.

https://courses.ryerson.ca/d2l/le/content/516284/viewContent/3987308/View

ReMake. (2020, April 2). The Team. https://remake.world/about/the-team/

Resale is the New Retail: Vestiaire Collective Opens First Permanent Boutique Space at

Selfridges, London. (2019, October 30). Markets.Businessinsider.Com.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/resale-is-the-new-retail-vestiaire-

collective-opens-first-permanent-boutique-space-at-selfridges-london-1028644318

Sutherland, E. (2020, June 25). Farfetch launches resale platform. Drapers.

https://www.drapersonline.com/news/farfetch-launches-resale-platform

Tudor, E. (2019, November 8). The Power of Second-Hand Clothing. NOWFASHION.

https://nowfashion.com/the-power-of-second-hand-clothing-28820
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Appendix

Figure 1

Shows how the second-hand market is projected to double in the next 5 years. Retrieved from
(https://www.thredup.com/resale/#resale-industry)
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Figure 2

Bar chart showing the most popular social networks worldwide as of October 2021. Retrieved
from (https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global-social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-
users/)
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Figure 3

Pie chart showing the reasons people download a mobile app. Retrieved from
(https://clevertap.com/blog/mobile-user-acquisition/)
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Figure 4

Bar chart displaying the environmental impact of buying used clothing instead of new clothing.
Retrieved from (https://www.thredup.com/resale/#resale-industry)
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Figure 5

Infographic displaying statistics related to influencer marketing. Retrieved from