Style Discovery Experience (SDX): Getting ahead of the game.

You are probably wondering – what is Style Discovery Experience (SDX) technology?

Let’s dive into some background.

Imagine you are a customer of X retail company. Any company. Maybe your own – you choose.

As a customer, you reach the homepage of your favorite retail store and you’re met with messages, cart notifications, discount pop-ups, product recommendations and more. While the design and UI differ from one site to the next, all eCommerce platforms provide nearly identical shopper experiences. If you look under the hood, the data is the same too.

Shopper data is continuously being extracted from search queries, purchase history, geographic, location, customer segmentation reports, contextual messages, real-time offers, and more, but the behind the scenes data points and algorithms that go into creating these “tailored experiences” are not relevant to shoppers. In fact, “personalization” is, simply put, becoming commonplace and not helpful to the customer, OR retailer.

Today’s consumers have unlimited access to inspiration. They find inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, Polyvore, etc. In order to break down an outfit or room found on Pinterest and recreate it (or find similar pieces), the consumer is forced to hunt and peck across multiple retailer sites. There have been no tools to help consumers translate their inspiration into discovery, much less being able to accomplish this on one site. 

Additionally, the web recommendations and “personalized” messaging currently on many eCommerce sites are based on a customer’s historical behavior. When it comes to a shopping session, the recommendations won’t be contextually relevant. For example, if a customer is shopping for a baby blue sofa to put in a nursery, the chances of them wanting to purchase an additional baby blue sofa to put in their bathroom is very unlikely. This also holds true for apparel – would you want to see additional choices for various scarves when you’re shopping for a bathing suit? Most shoppers have an occasion in mind when shopping online and utilizing data from only past behavior is very unlikely to yield satisfactory results.

Understanding why your consumer is purchasing today paired with the knowledge that consumers act on inspiration sets the stage for the emergence of a new eCommerce experience known as Style Discovery Experience (SDX).

What is Style Discovery Experience (SDX) technology and why does it matter?

SDX (Style Discovery Experience) is the term we use to describe a new way of engaging shoppers – leveraging AI powered technology to drive a customer’s shopping experience through the discovery of their own Style. It’s like the experience of Pinterest or even Pandora but for shopping. Pandora considers the listener’s past preferences AND their mood, occasion, and real time station feedback. SDX technology goes further than that and current web recommendation solutions by considering sku-level data such as materials, shape, textures, patterns, inventory, and context to create dynamic, cross-category ensembles that go together.

SDX technology helps individuals and retailers discover the customer’s unique STyle across the retailer’s broad catalog. It emulates the experience of a seasoned in-store sales associate who can weigh multiple factors and create a wardrobe or room design tailored to the customer’s needs.

It brings the human experience into a digital channel.

It’s a bridge that allows two groups with different goals to communicate in a way that accomplishes the goals of both sides. The retailer can communicate and better understand the customer while helping the customer find their unique STyle within the catalog. In addition to a more engaging experience for the shopper, the benefits to the retailer are increased average order value, cross-category product awareness & overall engagement for the website.

Shoptelligence is the first retail tech provider of an artificially intelligent (AI) STyle assistant that delivers STyle-based shopper experiences that surprise and delight shoppers, individually. As a trusted STyle Discovery Platform for apparel and home furnishing retailers, Shoptelligence bridges the gap between physical and digital and integrates outfit/decor inspiration into both digital and brick and mortar shopping channels. The solution translates retailers’ most basic product data into an interactive STyle discovery experience for shoppers. Shoptelligence has proven to enhance shopper engagement, provide valuable shopper insights, and measurably increase average order value (AOV) for retailers large and small. Shoptelligence makes shopping fun again by developing intelligent technology and intelligent STyle experiences that shoppers and retailers love.

Author: Emma Grife, Business Development

You are probably wondering – what is STyle discovery experience (SDX) technology?
Let’s dive into some background. Imagine you are a customer of X retail company. Any company. Maybe your own – you choose.

As a customer, you reach the homepage of your favorite retail store and you’re met with messages, cart notifications, discount pop-ups, product recommendations and more. While the design and UI differ from one site to the next, all eCommerce platforms provide nearly identical shopper experiences. If you look under the hood, the data is the same too.
Shopper data is continuously being extracted from search queries, purchase history, geographic, location, customer segmentation reports, contextual messages, real time offers, and more, but the behind the scenes data points and algorithms that go into creating these “tailored experiences” are not relevant to shoppers. In fact, “personalization” is, simply put, becoming commonplace and not helpful to the customer, OR retailer.
Today’s consumers have unlimited access to inspiration. They find inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, etc. In order to break down an outfit or room found on Pinterest and recreate it (or find similar pieces), the consumer is forced to hunt and peck across multiple retailer sites. There have been no tools to help consumers translate their inspiration into discovery, much less being able to accomplish this on one site.
Additionally, the web recommendations and “personalized” messaging currently on many eCommerce sites are based on a customer’s historical behavior. When it comes to a shopping session, the recommendations won’t be contextually relevant. For example, if a customer is shopping for a baby blue sofa to put in a nursery, the chances of them wanting to purchase an additional baby blue sofa to put in their bathroom is very unlikely. This also holds true for apparel – would you want to see additional choices for various scarves when you’re shopping for a bathing suit? Most shoppers have an occasion in mind when shopping online and utilizing data from only past behavior is very unlikely to yield satisfactory results.
Understanding why your consumer is purchasing today paired with the knowledge that consumers act on inspiration sets the stage for the emergence of a new eCommerce experience known as STyle Discovery Experience (SDX).

What is STyle Discovery Experience (SDX) technology and why does it matter?
SDX (STyle Discovery Experience) is the term we use to describe a new way of engaging shoppers – leveraging AI powered technology to drive a customer’s shopping experience through the discovery of their own STyle. It’s like the experience of Pinterest or even Pandora but for shopping. Pandora considers the listener’s past preferences AND their mood, occasion, and real time station feedback. SDX technology goes further than that and current web recommendation solutions by considering sku-level data such as materials, shape, textures, patterns, inventory, and context to create dynamic, cross-category ensembles that go together.

SDX technology helps individuals and retailers discover the customer’s unique STyle across the retailer’s broad catalog. It emulates the experience of a seasoned in-store sales associate who can weigh multiple factors and create a wardrobe or room design tailored to the customer’s needs.

It brings the human experience into a digital channel.
It’s a bridge that allows two groups with different goals to communicate in a way that accomplishes the goals of both sides. The retailer can communicate and better understand the customer while helping the customer find their unique STyle within the catalog. In addition to a more engaging experience for the shopper, the benefits to the retailer are increased average order value, cross-category product awareness & overall engagement for the website.
Shoptelligence is the first retail tech provider of an artificially intelligent (AI) STyle assistant that delivers STyle-based shopper experiences that surprise and delight shoppers, individually. As a trusted STyle Discovery Platform for apparel and home furnishing retailers, Shoptelligence bridges the gap between physical and digital and integrates outfit/decor inspiration into both digital and brick and mortar shopping channels. The solution translates retailers’ most basic product data into an interactive STyle discovery experience for shoppers. Shoptelligence has proven to enhance shopper engagement, provide valuable shopper insights, and measurably increase average order value (AOV) for retailers large and small. Shoptelligence makes shopping fun again by developing intelligent technology and intelligent STyle experiences that shoppers and retailers love.
Emma Grife
Business Development

Share

Read more

recommendation engine

STyle Finder Case Study

A Top 100 Retailer recently expanded their partnership with Shoptelligence to implement the STyle Finder module on their website alongside Room STylist. STyle Finder is

Read More »