Category: Uncategorized

Speech for final presentation.

S1:INTRO

Hello everyone, we’re Tia and Anessa and we are here to tell you about Zip!

 

First of all what is Zip? Well its a website that lets you trade your old clothes with some else, and best of all it cheaper than buying new clothes.

 

S2:

Now you might be thinking, why would I swap my old clothes for some elses old clothes?  We’ll according to the NZ Herald kiwis throw away 30% of their clothing after only wearing it once, so a lot of clothing being thrown away isn’t even worn yet, let alone old. Or maybe your thinking I wear all my clothes, I have nothing to swap! Well let me tell you a story about about the perfect pair of pants. I bought them just before the summer of 2010, they were amazing! White linen with a rope drawstring very in that season, there was only one small problem… they were completely see through… Not a big problem because I was going to wear these pants to the beach, like we were going to go swimming, then we’d tan for a while, then someone would say ‘let’s go get ice cream’ and then I would whip on my perfect pair of pants and run down to the dairy. Surprisingly that exact situation did not come up… so I had to part with my pants. So maybe we all have some aspirational clothing we’d be better to let go of to fill our wardrobes with things we actually wear?

 

S3:

Now we all know there is already plenty of places you can take your pre-loved clothing. The Sallies bins, Trade me, even facebook groups. So our goal would be to challenge the way people think about their clothing. We believe that most valuable item in your wardrobe is the one you like best, even if it isn’t Marc by Marc Jacobs, or Jacobs for Marc, By Marc Jacobs.

 

S4:ABOUT ZIP
So if your clothes minded about this let me tell you about Zip! Does your old pair of jeans need a bit more love?  Well, don’t leave them neglected in the wardrobe, upload your pre-loved items to ZIP and get zipping to find a new match!

 

ZIP is a fun and interactive dating website for pre loved clothing that allows users to swap and exchange their goods from wardrobe to wardrobe. The only expense involved is shipping, which is free with your initial sign up and a sweet flat rate price from that point onwards!

 

S5-6:WEBSITES

Our website is easy to use, fun and encourages an interactive experience to mix and match your lonely old clothes! The best part is, you can send your clothes away and update your style, without contributing to the textile waste problem!

 

So how do Start Zipping? Well maybe you’re scrolling through facebook or instagram, it’s a thursday afternoon and you see an ad for Zip! “It’s a new way to shop, it’s a new way to save!” you click on the ad. It takes you to our website “Upload your pre-worn clothing and start swapping today!” it reads, see that pile of clothing you’ve been meaning to take to Sallies for the last 6 months and you decided ugh why not. Shipping is free for your first swap what have you got to loose. You create a profile signing up with google then, you take a picture , front and back,  of that pair of jeans, you’ve finally admitted to your self might be slightly too small. You upload it to Zip! Filling out the size condition etc. Then you start scrolling through clicking the zip icon for all the items you like. Then at the top of the home page you see you’ve got 3 zips! You click on the icon it takes you to your wardrobe. The person with the knit top likes your jeans, so does the the person with the funky fur coat and the person with the printed skirt. You decide you like the skirt best. So you message them and they would like to swap too! You make the arrangements get a postal address, etc. you nip down to the post office the next day with your pre-paid postage receipt and mail it out. A few days later you skirt arrives! It fits perfectly, so you give your new friend 5 stars!

 

S7: PREMIUM FEATURE

So now we’ve per-sueded you to use our website we should tell you about the premium version. For only $5 per month you can have access to the premium version of the site! This means you can set filters, which you can save, so you only see things your interested in. You get to ‘skip the line’ which means you clothes go to the top of the page every time you post so more people will see it, and you get ‘superfly’ so that you can you can let people know when you really like an item. Hopefully they will be so flattered in your good taste they’ll want to swap with you!

 

Now I hear some of you thinking, I might use this site, but I’m not paying $5 a month for it! That’s all good because you still have to pay for shipping on each swap. It’s a flat rate of $6.99 per box. Thats $6 to our lovely partners at NZ post and .99c to us. So even if you don’t want to sign up, we still appreciate you business.

 

S8: TARGET MARKET

So let’s talk about the people this app is for. First we have the interactive millennials, these guys are young, broke and internet savvy! They want to try new things and likes to take style risks, but also don’t want to break the bank. Then we have the community makers, these guys are fashion conscious,and looking to meet new people. They may be in a transitional part of their lives, maybe their young parents, or they’ve just moved here from somewhere else or they are starting a new job and they want to find people to who likes the stuff they do. Then we have our eco warriors these guys are very environmentally aware, but also fashion conscious they want to experiment with new styles, but don’t want to harm the earth.

 

Ultimately our app is for anyone who wants to use it. The market we will be focusing on is on anyone aged 16 and over willing to set up their clothes with a new love!  There really is no limitation on age as users swap their clothing based on the individual garment not the person who owns it. Our target market is not refined by demographics, rather psychographics. Our consumers will be familiar with the common issues within the fashion industry and therefore willing to consume second hand clothing.

 

S9: MARKETING

 

Ok so how do we reach these guys? Through facebook and instagram ads. If we budget $10,000 that gives us 250 days of ads with facebook and instagram. Plenty of time to reach the people we need. Then when we are slightly more successful we can reach out to social media influencers to promote our website.

 

Now this plan is very solid but for it to work we need people already on the site. So we need a strong group of core users. We’ll find them on facebook groups and Reddit threads dedicated to upcycling, clothes swapping or other topics that relate to our brand.

 

S10: Money

Hopefully, by now your thinking great! This sounds so new and original I want to be a part of it! But how does it work? How long will it take? What does it cost? And I’m glad you asked. Because we need $20,000 for our first year.

 

Ouch! I know! But let’s break it down. That’s $4000 to get someone to build the website, $10,000 for advertising and another $6000 to cover some of the free shipping cost.

 

S11: Funding

Now with all the cost figured out, let’s talk money! Or more importantly how we’ll make it. There are a few ways we can make the money.

We can apply for the H&M global change awards which shares €1,000,000 between 5 winners. Or we can crowdfund the Website which means the people who are most interested in seeing this project come to life can help us get there! Or lastly we can get an investor on board who wants to take a risk and be a part of the future of fashion.

 

S12: timeline

So how will we spend your money? If you choose to invest? You might ask, well, the first 6 months are spent on building the website, and gathering the core audience then we spend the next 6 months advertising on facebook and instagram and hopefully building a strong subscriber base.

 

S13: the opportunity

Now you’re probably thinking is this worth the risk? I’m here to tell you that it really is, this could be the next big thing on the internet! We are the only e-commerce marketplace that works of the freemium business model. We have ensured that people can try it at no risk for the first time by making shipping free. And best of all we aren’t contributing any money to the fast fashion industry! There is nobody who does what we do! All the other sites exchange money for goods. Our websites aims to make shopping a fun, interactive experience that gets you to rethink the value of your wardrobe! So if you’ve got cold feet, come and join us today!

 

S14: the problem

So hopefully we’ve convinced you that Zip is the way forward. But just in case I’d like to talk to you about the problem with fashion today. Each year the amount of clothing being thrown in landfill equals the amount being purchased new. Can you imagine 850000 walruses stacked on top of each other? Because that how much clothing were thrown away each year. We consume 4 times more than we did 20 years ago and it’s only expected to increase. Basically we have a bit of a problem textile waste in landfills. But with Zip there’s a way to help

 

S15: conclusion

…..

Website Cost

After the presentation in Week 8, we were told that it would be better for our concept if we changed from doing an app to creating a website as it would be considerably cheaper. We were also told to create a more fun informal presentation style.

Because of this change, we needed to  adjust the cost of the website and of how much things will cost overall

We needed to figure out the cost of creating a website, we realized we would need specialized javascript. From looking at several quotes on the internet we figured it would cost between $4000- $10,000 we budgeted it at $4000.

We also adjusted the budgeting for the marketing. Figuring that $10,000 would give us $20 a day for 2 sites. we will use both Facebook and Instagram and at 250 per day will give us 250 days of advertising, that $5000 dedicated to each site.  With the way that these ads can target customers specifically this level of marketing should be enough.

We wanted to estimate a flat rate for shipping, so we looked at what the price is for shipping a standard size 1 box. The size one box is 16.5cm x 23.5cm x 7cm, just the box costs $4, tracked with postage its $6. We decided to add .99c per package so we still make money on these transactions.

we also decided to add free shipping for first time users, to encourage them to try it. if we have $6000 for shipping that means we can pay for 1000 people, hopefully, all those people sign up and we can use some of the revenue from premium payments and shipping cents to cover the cost of free shipping. We hope to discontinue the free shipping in future or to structure the profit margins of the brand in such a way that it is more affordable if we have a sustained growth at 20% we can hope to make a return on investment in 2.5 years. depending on the viability of the free shipping.

Pitch week 6

All the info on the pitch we have to this point

Slide 1: Intro

I am Anessa and this is Tia. We are both fashion students, passionate about advocating a slower, more sustainable fashion environment. Our aim is to slow down the fast fashion cycle encouraging consumers to reduce waste and increase the lifespan of clothing. In New Zealand, we discard on average, 30% of clothing that was only worn once!

 

Evidently, there is already an established market for pre-loved clothing with surplus accessibility to Op Shops and Online Marketplaces such as trade me, and Facebook that allows you to sell your old clothes. With this in mind, our ultimate goal is to challenge the way consumers perceive their clothing by introducing alternate ways of recognizing value.

 

Slide 2: Aim

Are your clothes minded? Does your old pair of jeans need a bit more love?  Well, don’t leave them neglected in the wardrobe, upload your pre-loved items to ZIP and get zipping to find a new match!

 

ZIP is a fun and interactive dating website for pre-loved clothing that allows users to swap and exchange their goods from wardrobe to wardrobe. The only expense involved is shipping, which is free with your initial sign up and a sweet flat rate price from that point onwards!

 

Our website is easy to use, fun and encourages an interactive experience to mix and match your lonely old clothes! The best part is, you can send your clothes away and update your style, without contributing to the textile waste problem.

 

Slide 3: Statistics

Fast fashion is used to describe the current market situation in fashion where trends are created quickly and cheaply.

  • During 2011 1.72 million tonnes of brand new clothing was purchased whilst the same amount ended up in the landfill. (Instead stay: each year the amount of clothing being purchased brand new, equals that being thrown into landfill….we are talking tonnes.
  • We now currently consume 80 billion pieces of clothing and purchase 400% more than we did 20 years ago, and that amount is expected to increase by 63% by 2030.
  • In New Zealand, we discard on average 30% of clothing that has been worn only once.

Basically, we have a bit of an issue with textile waste in landfills. (MAYBE STATS should go after slide one because it is our justification for our intention and informs our aim?)  

 

Slide 4: Opportunities

We are currently the only e-commerce marketplace for clothing exchange that works off a freemium business model.

 

Our only expense is shipping which is free upon sign up and then a flat rate price after that.

 

POD- we aren’t contributing money to the fast fashion industry.


Consumers are getting clothes without spending money, so there are fewer people consuming clothing at the current rate.

 

Slide 5: Competitors

Some of our competitors are both brick and mortar second-hand clothing stores and online marketplaces like facebook and Trademe. Also online marketplaces for renting clothing that has a large social media presence on Instagram, using influencers and branding to gain recognition.

 

To name a few: ThreadUp, Recycle Boutique, Designer Wardrobe, Oh rent me, Rehash Clothing and Trade me.

 

The one thing these brand have in common is a monetary system of exchange whereas our focus is on the match which is free. The only expense of shipping is a flat rate (T’s & C’s apply)

 

Slide 6: Target Market:

The market we will be focusing on is on anyone aged 16 and over willing to set up their clothes with a new love!  There really is no limitation on age as users swap their clothing based on the individual garment, not the person who owns it. Our target market is not defined by demographics, rather psychographics. Our consumers will be familiar with the common issues within the fashion industry and therefore willing to consume second-hand clothing.

 

Slide 7&8 : Features:

We are working off a freemium business model and when you upgrade to the premium package you can

  • set filters so you see only items you are interested in
  • you can unzip your location allowing more access to user profiles nationally.
  • You can also superfly or ‘like’ garments which lets others know you are very interested in a specific item, which could induce them to trade with you.
  • You can also skip the line, which sends your own items to the top of the que when you post them to gain more attention.

 

Slide 9: User Journey

  1. downloads the app, sign up via email or facebook.
  2. receive an email verification confirming their account.
  3. set up a profile with their name, age, gender, location.
  4. Build your wardrobe. You upload a pic of your clothes one by one front and back)
  5. Give each garment a description such as the type of garment, condition, the age of garment, size material etc. You can also write your own description to promote the piece.
  6. Get zipping!
  7. If you like a garment un-zip it if you don’t you zip up to scroll to the next item.
  8. If it’s a match you get a notification and you can start a chat to discuss if both parties are happy with the match and negotiate shipping and.  After this, you can ship your item, with one of our shipping companies integrated into the app. After you receive your item you can rate your experience and if the item doesn’t fit, or wasn’t completely what you thought just re-post it!

 

Slide 10: Promotional strategy:

We will promote the app on social media, like Instagram, facebook, and youtube with paid advertisements and promotion of our posts.

  • To create both an Instagram and Facebook ad you can set up a budget. If we budget $2,000 for this type of campaign, it works out to be 200 days of advertising, which will be specifically targeted at our core audience. That’s $10 a day on a site.
  • However, in order to reach a core audience, to run beta testing on our app and to make up our initial users, we propose posting on sites like Facebook, and Reddit which focus on topics like sustainable fashion and upcycling clothing and other topics which may relate to our product. This initial promotional strategy will be free.  
  • As our app continues to grow we propose reaching out to influencers to promote our app on their platforms. These types of social media deals will vary in cost depending on the influencer, the size of their audience and their platform.

 

Slide 11: Pricing

We will use the fermium business model, where the initial download is free and the premium version cost $13 per month, excluding the cost of shipping. That price was set based on what people are charged for other subscription services such as Netflix, Spotify, YouTube prime etc, as we thought it is what people are willing to pay. The app will have different courier companies integrated so the customers can pay for shipping through the app, allowing an easier exchange. In the future, we may be able to negotiate a deal with shipping companies which allows for a standard shipping rate. For now, we imagine a standard shipping calculator integrated into the app, and possibly partnering with multiple shipping companies, to allow a variety of prices.

 

Slide 12: Timeline:

In terms of creating the product we imagine it will take 6 months to develop the app to the point where it can be Bata tested. The first 6 months will cost $38,400. For our one coder, and our part-time working on building a client base. The second 6 months will cost $96,400 for the three of us full time, and one coder, plus paying for advertising. It is possible that the app will be too difficult for one coder to work on alone if that is the case hiring a company will cost between $60,000- $86,000. The first option, hiring a coder will cost $124,800, and hiring a company will cost $127,500 as an estimate. We have further budgeted $10,000 to market the app. We gain an investment of $150,000 that will leave us with an extra $13,000 to pay for things like trademarks, and business licenses. (Business license $750, trademark NZ $350)

 

Funding:

We will use a crowdfunding method to fund our app, the benefit of this is giving us access to a large number of enthusiastic users when we are ready to test and launch the app. We can use a site like Kickstarter to gain the funds. If we proceed with this model we would need an initial investment of $5,000- $10,000 to target the people who would be most interested in the app. For this approach, we will use the same marketing strategies employed in the beginning stages of app launch.

If we achieve a growth factor of  0.86 we will be able to make $150,000 in 1 year after launch assuming each person who subscribes to the app, does so for a period of 12 months.

For an initial investment, the investor will receive 10% of the company profit and should receive a return on investment within the first 6 months after launch.  The risk of this investment is that it may take a long time to make up the $150,000 amount, which will delay the launch time.

If this sounds like an opportunity for you we would love to hear from you.