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Japan’s online fashion giant Start Today sets up R&D arm, pursues best user experience

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See the original story in Japanese. Start Today (TSE:3092), the Japanese company behind online fashion marketplace Zozotown, announced in January that it has set up a project team called Start Today Research (Research for short) as its R&D arm. Yuki Kanayama, CEO of Vasily which was recently acquired by Start Today, will lead the arm and conduct projects leveraging big data owned by the fashion giant. The specific Big Data set as its analysis data include 30 million brand-official product data (product information, category, size, material), 10 million fashion coordination data, 23 million user information (user attribute, purchase history, held items), shop information and distribution-related data, in addition to human body dimension data measurements from Zozosuit as had recently been announced and is seen being accumulated in the future. According to Kanayama, although he cannot disclose details about the current team, he aims to build an organization a few hundred-strong comprising doctorate holders in such fields as machine learning, encryption technology, material science or hydrodynamics, so as to analyze fashion from the scientific perspective in the future. In tandem with the announcement, we held a short interview with Start Today CEO Yusaku Maezawa and Kanayama, inquiring into their objectives in…

L to R: Start Today CEO Yusaku Maezawa, Vasily CEO Yuki Kanayama
Image credit: The Bridge

See the original story in Japanese.

Start Today (TSE:3092), the Japanese company behind online fashion marketplace Zozotown, announced in January that it has set up a project team called Start Today Research (Research for short) as its R&D arm. Yuki Kanayama, CEO of Vasily which was recently acquired by Start Today, will lead the arm and conduct projects leveraging big data owned by the fashion giant.

The specific Big Data set as its analysis data include 30 million brand-official product data (product information, category, size, material), 10 million fashion coordination data, 23 million user information (user attribute, purchase history, held items), shop information and distribution-related data, in addition to human body dimension data measurements from Zozosuit as had recently been announced and is seen being accumulated in the future.

According to Kanayama, although he cannot disclose details about the current team, he aims to build an organization a few hundred-strong comprising doctorate holders in such fields as machine learning, encryption technology, material science or hydrodynamics, so as to analyze fashion from the scientific perspective in the future. In tandem with the announcement, we held a short interview with Start Today CEO Yusaku Maezawa and Kanayama, inquiring into their objectives in establishing Research [interviewer questions indicated in boldface].

Approaching fashion from scientific angle

Zozosuit
Image credit: Start Today

I give due warning; the whole picture of the R&D arm is still unclear. As mentioned above, it is a fact that the firm has been storing an enormous amount of data related to fashion especially in Japan. The data content will enable more multidimensional analysis by adding body dimension data measured by Zozosuit that astonished the world. The two guys explained about the outline of the new arm.

Although Research was introduced with a bit ambiguous expression as “scientific approach of fashion utilizing big data” in the press release, would you explain about the outline of it again?

Kanayama: The purpose of Research is to utilize fashion data including human body dimension data. We will jointly research with external companies or educational organization about what can be grasped from fashion data or how we can utilize it into our service. The output of Start Today is thought to be divided into two types: the one is academic approach via papers or learned societies and the one is to make it into services or products led by companies. As acquiring an enormous amount of data, I would like to improve the state of the world together with outside collaborators.

Is it a R&D department of Start Today?

Maezawa: We had sometimes conducted planning or development as needed, but here we will cover a wide range of R&D activities in Research.

I ask you more about the organization. While Mercari had also announced the establishment of R&D department with detailed research themes or organization scale, how about is that in Research?

Kanayama: We plan to construct a several hundred-scale organization having Ph.D. members, in addition, we will start researching about fact or theory which has not been commercialized. Fashion has both “protection” and “emotion” aspects. The protection aspect is to wear clothes to protect himself against the cold or to cover up himself. The emotion aspect is to lift the spirit or to gain confidence or satisfaction. To meet the emotion aspect, measurement technology is needed, and the size suit must be improved further. We will explore themes about combination or coordination utilizing algorithm, machine learning, or deep learning. If health factor were required for fashion, healthcare field would become one of our research targets.

These data, Kanayama compared to “petroleum”, is just a string if it remains as it was. Refining it and synthesizing it, they turn it into a form available. The direction Research pursues may be to quantify fashion that had been determined based on the sense and to change fashion into a knowledge that everyone can share as common recognition.

Perfect-fitting by one-centimeter pitch

L to R: Start Today CEO Yusaku Maezawa, Vasily CEO Yuki Kanayama
Image credit: The Bridge

What are the specific views the two guys are going to cultivate, while it seems to a big project they imagine? I continued interviewing.

I will ask you about the research contents. For example, Amazon has a simple view like Echo Look, suggesting fashion which suits each user by taking photos. Do you have any specific ideas as outputs from Research?

Kanayama: Yes, we have some plans for services but cannot reveal them now. I want to pursue the point what is cool for him seen from himself just as seen from those around him.

Maezawa: The purpose of Research is to seek the answer to the problem as for what is cool for each user, by suggesting satisfactory fashion that looks cool seen him and also seen from surrounding people. We aim to digitize what is cool and what is cute. Off course, it is important for a user to be satisfied himself, but we want a proof that other people will be sure to admire the fashion enough to recommend them to him.

We will digitize the ambiguous concept of “cool”; for example, a coordination is cool because it is formed by combining this one and that one it is highly evaluated by 85 in 100 people qualitatively. Anyone may be worried about whether clothes will suit him. I think it is important to tell him that it really suits him or looks cool qualitatively to make him positive. To do that, first of all, we want everyone to experience wearing perfect-fitting clothes and to be impressed with them. Then, digitalized data outputted from Research will work as a support. That is our future vision.

As hearing Maezawa’s explanation, I had a dim impression that standardized information related to fashion like “fashion score” will be born from here. Of course, that will be incorporated into the group’s services, but standardized data can be used by external companies too.

Start Today CEO Yusaku Maezawa
Image credit: The Bridge

Let’s continue the interview. If you could acquire any outputs from the data in Research, how the world will change? For example, with the advent of fast fashion represented by Uniqlo, we no longer have difficulties in having clothes just to live. How are they going to change the world?

We no longer have difficulties in having clothes thanks to the advent of fast fashion. On the other hand, ocular changes have occurred in the street; homogeneity in fashion can be seen. What impacts do you expect Research to have?

Maezawa: I think the silhouette of aman wearing T-shirt is an art; it completely differs according to person. In autos’ body lines, there is a ratio called golden section which is digitalized to a certain degree. Similarly, we will try to sublimate the silhouette in a size suitable for each person to an art. I believe there is “a point” of perfection.

Currently, we have been producing T-shirts with size intervals of several centimeters pitch and wish everyone to find their favorite silhouette. An impression of clothes changes greatly only with one-centimeter difference in size, but there had not been such line-ups allowing customers to choose thus far. Few people are particular about one-centimeter difference in clothes, right? That is why I wish them to find their own perfect T-shirts.

Although I cannot refer to Zozosuit because I have not experienced Zozosuit yet, how does it feel to wear a perfect T-shirt?

Kanayama: It makes you positive.

I see.

Should the day arrive when we really can obtain perfect-fitting clothes, we will surely get to enjoy fashion from all over the world via online more easily or more people will gain confidence about one’s own fashion by utilizing the abovementioned Fashion Scoring.

Will it bring another change just as fast fashion created? I would like to wait for their outputs with great interest.

Translated by Taijiro Takeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Zozotown’s smart body measurement suit helps users buy perfect-fit clothes online

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Japanese leading fashion e-commerce site Zozotown introduced a smart bodysuit called Zozosuit on Wednesday, aiming to help customers know their body measurements upon buying clothes online. A user can take one for free but 3,000 yen (about $27 US) will be charged for additional each piece. Consisting of tops and bottoms, the outfit has stretch sensors that instantly allow users to measure their body. By placing a smartphone in front of it, your body measurement data can be transferred via Bluetooth from the outfit to the Zozotown mobile app. This state-of-the-art technology was jointly developed by New Zealand startup StretchSense which Start Today, the company behind Zozotown, invested in last year. Body measurements will be applied when a user buys an outfit of the company’s first private brand Zozo which is planned to debut in late November. Start Today says the new technology is expected to help customers relieve concerns of buying clothes in the wrong sizes, planning to add more useful search and recommendation functions into the app.

Japanese leading fashion e-commerce site Zozotown introduced a smart bodysuit called Zozosuit on Wednesday, aiming to help customers know their body measurements upon buying clothes online. A user can take one for free but 3,000 yen (about $27 US) will be charged for additional each piece.

Consisting of tops and bottoms, the outfit has stretch sensors that instantly allow users to measure their body. By placing a smartphone in front of it, your body measurement data can be transferred via Bluetooth from the outfit to the Zozotown mobile app. This state-of-the-art technology was jointly developed by New Zealand startup StretchSense which Start Today, the company behind Zozotown, invested in last year.

Body measurements will be applied when a user buys an outfit of the company’s first private brand Zozo which is planned to debut in late November. Start Today says the new technology is expected to help customers relieve concerns of buying clothes in the wrong sizes, planning to add more useful search and recommendation functions into the app.

Japanese fashion commerce giant Zozotown acquires fashion coordination startup Vasilly

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See the original story in Japanese. Tokyo-based startup Vasily, which runs online fashion coordination service iQON, announced on Thursday that it has been acquired by Start Today (TSE:3092), the company behind Japan’s leading fashion commerce site Zozotown. Details on financial terms have not been disclosed. See also: Japan’s fashion coordination app iQon unveils native advertising service Japanese fashion coordination site iQON surpasses 1 million users Japanese fashion site iQon lands partnership with Italian online mall Yoox.com Japanese fashion coordination site iQON raises $3.2M, will boost marketing efforts Vasily was founded back in 2008 and subsequently launched fashion coordination service iQON back in April of 2018. Using the mobile app or desktop, the service allows one to combine clothing and accessories online while sharing fashion coordination ideas with other users. Each item has a direct link to fashion e-commerce sites where purchases are made, and the startup will generate revenue from partner sites using an affiliate model. Their mobile app is highly evaluated and has been selected as the best apps several times on the Apple iTunes Appstore and Google Play. Meanwhile, Start Today, the company behind Zozotown, launched a fashion coordination app called Wear back in 2013, having since acquired…

See the original story in Japanese.

Tokyo-based startup Vasily, which runs online fashion coordination service iQON, announced on Thursday that it has been acquired by Start Today (TSE:3092), the company behind Japan’s leading fashion commerce site Zozotown. Details on financial terms have not been disclosed.

See also:

Vasily was founded back in 2008 and subsequently launched fashion coordination service iQON back in April of 2018. Using the mobile app or desktop, the service allows one to combine clothing and accessories online while sharing fashion coordination ideas with other users. Each item has a direct link to fashion e-commerce sites where purchases are made, and the startup will generate revenue from partner sites using an affiliate model. Their mobile app is highly evaluated and has been selected as the best apps several times on the Apple iTunes Appstore and Google Play.

Meanwhile, Start Today, the company behind Zozotown, launched a fashion coordination app called Wear back in 2013, having since acquired 9 million downloads and 6 million coordination pattern posts. According to the financial report of Start Today, the company has annually transacted 212 billion yen (about $1.9 billion US) as of March this year on the Zozotown marketplace.

See also:

The content of the partnership between the two companies has not been disclosed. However, it is expected that Start Today and Vasily will jointly conduct a measure to encourage sales leveraging items and user preference data collected by both companies respectively.

Yuki Kanayama, CEO and founder of Vasily, declined our request to disclose the details but he says,

We can’t yet disclose the details about for how much we have been acquired or what we will jointly work with Start Today on. However, all I can sa is that the key will be data. We believe that we can do more business than ever by combining existing and future data held by Start Today and our own Vasily technology.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by “Tex” Pomeroy

Japanese fashion commerce giant Zozotown buys e-commerce solutions provider Aratana

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See the original story in Japanese. Start Today (TSE:3092), a company that provides Japan’s largest fashion commerce site Zozotown, announced today that it has acquired e-commerce solution provider Aratana. Aratana was launched with the aim to create new jobs for 1,000 people in Miyazaki, a coastal city on Japan’s Kyushu Island. Since its launch in 2007, the company has served more than 800 Japanese companies to develop their e-commerce sites. Meanwhile, Start Today has been helping apparel brands develop e-commerce sites in addition to operating Zozotown, Start Today’s flagship fashion commerce site. Through the partnership, Aratana will help Start Today offer their e-commerce site development services to apparel brands. As reported last year, Aratana is comprised of more than 100 engineers, with a 24-year-old security hacker as CTO at the head of the list. The company will maintain its independent business operations with their personnel structure unchanged after the acquisition. Start Today acquired DIY e-commerce solution startup Stores.jp in 2013. It will be interesting to see how the tie-up will bring synergy to both companies. Translated by Masaru Ikeda Edited by Kurt Hanson Proofread by “Tex” Pomeroy  

zozotown-aratana_logos

See the original story in Japanese.

Start Today (TSE:3092), a company that provides Japan’s largest fashion commerce site Zozotown, announced today that it has acquired e-commerce solution provider Aratana.

Aratana was launched with the aim to create new jobs for 1,000 people in Miyazaki, a coastal city on Japan’s Kyushu Island. Since its launch in 2007, the company has served more than 800 Japanese companies to develop their e-commerce sites.

Meanwhile, Start Today has been helping apparel brands develop e-commerce sites in addition to operating Zozotown, Start Today’s flagship fashion commerce site. Through the partnership, Aratana will help Start Today offer their e-commerce site development services to apparel brands.

As reported last year, Aratana is comprised of more than 100 engineers, with a 24-year-old security hacker as CTO at the head of the list. The company will maintain its independent business operations with their personnel structure unchanged after the acquisition.

Start Today acquired DIY e-commerce solution startup Stores.jp in 2013. It will be interesting to see how the tie-up will bring synergy to both companies.

Translated by Masaru Ikeda
Edited by Kurt Hanson
Proofread by “Tex” Pomeroy

 

Japan’s online fashion retailer Start Today to acquire e-publication company Yappa

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Start Today (TSE:3092), the Japanese company behind the country’s leading online fashion retailer Zozotown, announced today that it will acquire Tokyo-based e-publishing company Yappa. The acquisition will occur on October 1. Started in 2000, Yappa publishes online editions of over 900 magazines in partnership with Japanese leading publishers. Especially for folks in the local startup community in Tokyo, the company is also known for publishing the Japanese translation of US-based tech news media ReadWrite.com. Through the acquisition, Start Today aims to leverage Yappa’s content publishing capability and explore sales and marketing synergy in the online fashion retail business. Via Venture Now

startuptoday-yappa-logos_featuredimage

Start Today (TSE:3092), the Japanese company behind the country’s leading online fashion retailer Zozotown, announced today that it will acquire Tokyo-based e-publishing company Yappa. The acquisition will occur on October 1.

Started in 2000, Yappa publishes online editions of over 900 magazines in partnership with Japanese leading publishers. Especially for folks in the local startup community in Tokyo, the company is also known for publishing the Japanese translation of US-based tech news media ReadWrite.com.

Through the acquisition, Start Today aims to leverage Yappa’s content publishing capability and explore sales and marketing synergy in the online fashion retail business.

Via Venture Now

Japan’s fashion coordination app Wear hits 2M downloads, aspires to be fashion infrastructure

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Largely driven by heavy television promotion with a fun new commercial that began on March 19th, Wear (wear.jp), a fashion coordination app from Tokyo-based Start Today, has surpassed 2 million downloads. Start Today, is of course, the company behind Japanese mega fashion commerce site Zozotown. The app has been online for just five months, and its trajectory looks promising. The recent commercial starts popular model Emi Suzuki, who is also one of Wear’s many prominent ‘Wearistas’ on the fashion platform (pictured above). In total there have been more than 400,000 fashion coordinations posted on Wear, with a current average of 10,000 posted per day. Start Today stated in its announcement that it is shooting for five million domestic downloads, and it would be good to see global expansion follow after that. The company aspires to evolve Wear into a sort of infrastructural service in the fashion sector, an ambitious goal even for this Japanese fashion powerhouse. Start Today (PDF)

emi-suzuki-wear

Largely driven by heavy television promotion with a fun new commercial that began on March 19th, Wear (wear.jp), a fashion coordination app from Tokyo-based Start Today, has surpassed 2 million downloads. Start Today, is of course, the company behind Japanese mega fashion commerce site Zozotown. The app has been online for just five months, and its trajectory looks promising.

The recent commercial starts popular model Emi Suzuki, who is also one of Wear’s many prominent ‘Wearistas’ on the fashion platform (pictured above). In total there have been more than 400,000 fashion coordinations posted on Wear, with a current average of 10,000 posted per day.

Start Today stated in its announcement that it is shooting for five million domestic downloads, and it would be good to see global expansion follow after that. The company aspires to evolve Wear into a sort of infrastructural service in the fashion sector, an ambitious goal even for this Japanese fashion powerhouse.

Start Today (PDF)

Fashion coordination app ‘Wear’ hits number 1 on Japanese App Store thanks to new commercials

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Start Today, the company behind Japanese fashion commerce site Zozotown, began running television commercials for its fashion coordination app Wear (wear.jp) back on March 19th. And as we have so frequently seen here in Japan, that investment has – at least momentarily – paid off, as Wear has held the top overall iOS app position for the majority of this week. The Android version of Wear has also moved up the rankings significantly, reaching fourth position in the lifestyle category. The Wear commercials feature famous model Emi Suzuki (above), and if you’d like to check them out, you can find them all here.

emi suzuki

Start Today, the company behind Japanese fashion commerce site Zozotown, began running television commercials for its fashion coordination app Wear (wear.jp) back on March 19th. And as we have so frequently seen here in Japan, that investment has – at least momentarily – paid off, as Wear has held the top overall iOS app position for the majority of this week. The Android version of Wear has also moved up the rankings significantly, reaching fourth position in the lifestyle category.

The Wear commercials feature famous model Emi Suzuki (above), and if you’d like to check them out, you can find them all here.

wear-ios
Wear on iOS
Wear on Android
Wear on Android

Japanese fashion commerce site Zozotown begins same day delivery service

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Start Today, the Japanese company that operates internet fashion commerce site Zozotown, announced today that it will be able to handle same-day deliveries for items ordered before 9am in the greater Tokyo area, with deliveries arriving that evening. Orders between 9am and 9pm will come on the following morning, and orders after 9pm will arrive the following evening. On a related note, the company’s new fashion coordination app, Wear (wear.jp), which recently surpassed a million downloads, has unveiled a series of fun commercials this past week. You can check them out in their entirety over on the Wear YouTube channel. Here’s one of them below:

Start Today, the Japanese company that operates internet fashion commerce site Zozotown, announced today that it will be able to handle same-day deliveries for items ordered before 9am in the greater Tokyo area, with deliveries arriving that evening. Orders between 9am and 9pm will come on the following morning, and orders after 9pm will arrive the following evening.

On a related note, the company’s new fashion coordination app, Wear (wear.jp), which recently surpassed a million downloads, has unveiled a series of fun commercials this past week. You can check them out in their entirety over on the Wear YouTube channel. Here’s one of them below:

Start Today’s Wear app surpasses a million downloads in Japan, will be promoted in national commercial

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Our readers may recall that Start Today Co. Ltd, the operator of Japanese fashion commerce giant Zozotown, launched its ‘Wear’ app back in October. The application is a fashion coordination search service, letting you save photos of clothes, upload pictures of your own styles, or scan barcodes when you show to get detailed information about an item. In participating stores, you can even buy that item online at Zozotown. Start Today is announcing (today) that the Wear app has surpassed a million downloads, and they’ll be running a promotional commercial for Wear here in Japan starting on March 19th. We’re interpreting this as a sign that the app is off to a reasonably good start, in spite of initial resistance from some local retailers over its showrooming features.

Our readers may recall that Start Today Co. Ltd, the operator of Japanese fashion commerce giant Zozotown, launched its ‘Wear’ app back in October. The application is a fashion coordination search service, letting you save photos of clothes, upload pictures of your own styles, or scan barcodes when you show to get detailed information about an item. In participating stores, you can even buy that item online at Zozotown.

Start Today is announcing (today) that the Wear app has surpassed a million downloads, and they’ll be running a promotional commercial for Wear here in Japan starting on March 19th. We’re interpreting this as a sign that the app is off to a reasonably good start, in spite of initial resistance from some local retailers over its showrooming features.

Japan’s Zozotown unveils new app, but some fashion retailers want to ban it from stores

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Start Today, the company behind Japanese fashion commerce site Zozotown, recently announced that it is receiving applications for a new sort of Showrooming feature for offline fashion retailers. It is called Wear and it launches today. The service uses a mobile app (for iOS and Android) that lets consumers scan a barcode of a clothes item at a participating offline retailer, and then purchase it online on Zozotown or other sites. When you buy online, a sales commission will then be paid from Zozotown to the retailer. This is called ‘showrooming’, and is becoming more common consumer behavior not only in Japan but also in the US and China. According to Nikkei, some retailers are receptive to Zozotown’s efforts — but others are not. Lumine, a fashion mall chain in Tokyo, has asked their tenent stores to prohibit photo-shooting in stores by consumers, a firm stance against the showrooming wave. In contrast, Japanese department store Parco has partnered with the e-commerce company and agreed to receive a commission when the store succeeds in driving traffic to Zozotown. We are told that about 200 fashion brands will participate in the program. We’ve seen major e-commerce players exploring new opportunities in this…

Start Today, the company behind Japanese fashion commerce site Zozotown, recently announced that it is receiving applications for a new sort of Showrooming feature for offline fashion retailers. It is called Wear and it launches today.

The service uses a mobile app (for iOS and Android) that lets consumers scan a barcode of a clothes item at a participating offline retailer, and then purchase it online on Zozotown or other sites. When you buy online, a sales commission will then be paid from Zozotown to the retailer. This is called ‘showrooming’, and is becoming more common consumer behavior not only in Japan but also in the US and China.

According to Nikkei, some retailers are receptive to Zozotown’s efforts — but others are not. Lumine, a fashion mall chain in Tokyo, has asked their tenent stores to prohibit photo-shooting in stores by consumers, a firm stance against the showrooming wave. In contrast, Japanese department store Parco has partnered with the e-commerce company and agreed to receive a commission when the store succeeds in driving traffic to Zozotown. We are told that about 200 fashion brands will participate in the program.

We’ve seen major e-commerce players exploring new opportunities in this space. Amazon Japan is intensifying fashion sales by leveraging its same-day delivery advantage. Meanwhile Rakuten launched an e-commerce store in partnership with popular fashion retailer Beams back in May. Japan’s leading fashion retailer Magaseek partnered with NTT Docomo and to try to cultivate a revenue stream using the latter’s mobile subscriber userbase.

In addition to this latest initiative, Start Today has been busy as well, acquiring e-commerce platform developer Stores.jp back in July, and partnering with fashion coordination site iQON last year.

It will be interesting to see how the company will evolve the fashion retail scene in Japan. Our Bridge team is now working on a report on the O2O market in Japan and around the world. We expect to share some of our insights here soon, so please stay tuned.

parco-wear
Image courtesy: Parco