Monica's Profile

Thanks Rachel! I’ve been meaning to try out stitch-fix, but I couldn’t find all the information I would need in one place. 🙂

I enjoyed learning about how StitchFix provides data to retailers. Retailers clearly want the data very badly, which can be seen whenever they offer prizes for filling out reviews of their products online. However, aside from an award that I’m not going to win, I have little incentive (other than guilt – because I use reviews) to write any reviews of my own. With StitchFix, the act of writing a customer review creates value for the customer, for StitchFix, and for the retailer. It’s a really smart concept!

As a member of their key demographic, (correct age range, no kids, most often just trying to fit in), my main concern would be realizing the clothing being sold to me didn’t sell well initially. When I’m in the mode of just trying to fit in, I’d start to question my “own unique style” if I were liking all the clothing that no one else wanted. I feel, though, that people don’t talk about StitchFix in the same way that they talk about TJ Maxx, which has some great finds and some really awful ones, and which I certainly think of as a disorganized discount place. You’re definitely right that they seem to be a personal styling service rather than a retailer. The thought that someone picked out these items with me in mind, even if it’s actually mostly an algorithm, is the factor that would allow me to trust the service.

I’m ashamed to say that I’m not sure if I’ve ever tried New Belgium! To be fair, on their website, when I searched for their beer within 1000 miles of Boston, they say they can’t find any. Sad day!

I think it’s great that the brand is so environmentally conscious and good to its workers. I think that those values definitely weave well into the craft brewery fabric and matter to customers more than I initially realized. I feel like a large part of the appeal might be that a beer just sounds more refreshing when it’s associated with the outdoors, just like how Poland Spring sounds refreshing because the image of fresh spring water. My homebrews seem less refreshing when I think about how I made them with tap water from my kitchen sink.

While I love the idea of MOD Beer, I’d wonder how many people would think to drink a New Belgium due to their social and environmental values. Now that you’ve made me aware, I find it exciting, but I don’t think I’m very aware of the value systems of other breweries, so I have probably never chosen to drink a beer based on their efforts in community outreach, etc. I have definitely bought local beer though, in order to be more environmentally conscious and in order to support local businesses. Great post!

I really enjoyed this post, Zhihan! It was very interesting to learn that for 60% of dresses, they can receive, wash, and send the dress back out, all in the same day. I’m wondering how scalable RTR will prove to be in the future, now that so many people have learned about them. Specifically, how they will allow their products to remain exclusive, and how will they make sure their inventory works for busy times of year? While they are designer items, I see that they carry a lot of the same designer, and I’m wondering if those particular designers will see their value suffer if their brands are seen as more accessible. I tried to use RTR for Holidazzle, likely too close to the event, and there was very little selection available to me once I tried to filter options (black tie, late 20s, etc), and I hope that RTR has plans to handle appealing to a broader audience!