BlinQ, a leading FashionTech enabler in the AR and E-commerce space, has announced that they are going to focus on Asia’s booming luxury fashion e-commerce space. Led by seasoned entrepreneur Bob Chua, BlinQ will be introducing a technology that allows users to virtually try on and purchase designer apparel and accessories from online luxury and contemporary fashion retailers globally.
Fusing successful models of ASOS, Farfetch, Rent-the-Runway and The Real Real into a single platform, Chua is striving to capture what he believes is a hugely untapped market. He comments: “BlinQ uses AR and Algorithmic patterns to provide users with the latest trends and personalised fittings from their digital devices. It also allows users to choose how they would like to consume fashion, which may not necessarily be to buy, but also to rent, subscribe, or pay later for latest luxury designs from major and upcoming brands across SE Asia”.
“BlinQ uses AR and Algorithmic patterns to provide users with the latest trends and personalised fittings from their digital devices.”
According to McKinsey’s global fashion report the personal luxury market is currently estimated to be $300bn and will grow to $500bn by 2020. Close to 44% is deriving from Asia. The report shows an evident retail disruption happening everywhere, and e-commerce adoption in the luxury space is growing at a staggering rate, especially in Asia, Chua adds, “We see a significant opportunity especially with a full-stack platform of providing users with a virtual changing room feature, a marketplace and multiple modes of consuming fashion”.
From a B2B aspect, BlinQ plans to monetise their platform by white-labelling our virtual changing room AR (Augmented Reality) features to other e-commerce sites, which will ultimately reduce returns (currently estimated at 60% of all online purchases) and increase purchasing propensity (estimated to drive 30%-40% more sales due to trying before buying).
BlinQ also envisions powering the back-end logistics and fulfilment of goods via fully automated warehousing to meet the throughput, SKUs and numerous brands it plans to carry in the foreseeable future. This will allow brands to meet the demands of speed, scope and scale of the region while optimising the customer experience.
ALSO READ: Exploring The Future of Digital Shopping And How It’s Shaping The Way We Shop
Mainly, targeting affluent Asians and millennials, the multi-brand and multi-mode platform will allow for a broader audience to be able to enjoy luxury. So far BlinQ has secured significant seed funding and is currently en route to a next fundraising round to accelerate itself forward.
