California Apparel News

While Google is better known as the search-engine behemoth, the jury is still out on its ability to translate the offline-shopping hunt to the Web. Google hopes to change that by turning on Web-savvy fashionistas to its new shopping marketplace, Boutiques.com, which launched on Nov. 17.

Boutiques.com follows the user curation and discovery models of similar shopping sites such as ShopStyle and Polyvore.

Google’s Boutiques.com has been more than a year in the making, and the technology it employs was developed by fashion search engine Like.com, which Google purchased earlier this year along with its properties—shopping site Covet.com and styling site Couturious.com.

“The Web works well for buying cameras and other hard goods, but for soft goods, such as clothing and accessories, it’s not the same as shopping in a store,” Munjal Shah, Google product management director for Boutiques.com, wrote in a recent Google blog post. “What’s more, the market for soft goods online is growing tremendously,” wrote Shah, former chief executive officer of Like.com.

The search functions behind Boutiques.com rely on a machine-learning technology that visually analyzes a user’s taste in order to match items. The shopping algorithm technology takes a user’s style preferences—Boutiques.com offers up the choices of classic, romantic, casual chic, edgy, street and boho—and tags it to an appropriate piece.

Google’s entry into women’s online fashion has potential to change how consumers will search and shop online.

“They appear to be making an effort to increase search-engine appeal. I have a feeling [that] this is just the tip of the iceberg, with many iterations to follow,” said Jon Fahrner, chief executive officer of Palo Alto, Calif.–based e-tailer Moxsie. “All energy going toward fashion in the consumer Internet space, especially from a behemoth like Google, is a plus for everyone. It shows how much room there is and how the industry is transforming.”

Boutiques.com has brought on a prominent roster of tastemakers, including celebrities Carey Mulligan, Mary-Kate Olsen and Sarah Jessica Parker, as well as editors, models, designers, stylists and fashion bloggers to create their own shops. Retailers such as ModCloth and Azalea have also set up shops.

For some e-tailers, it can mean participating in a much larger space to which Google can expose their online customer.

“This will be one more solution that will help users find online retailers, as we already have social-shopping networks, comparison-shopping engines, banners and blogs dialed into our Web shops,” said Huntington Beach, Calif.–based online retailer 80’s Purple’s Director of Online Marketing and Operations Vick Tran. “Google already has all parts of the media/advertising online dialed in, and they’ve already been extremely prominent indirectly in the fashion market prior to this launch, so I’m excited to see them enter into something new and exciting which connects fashion retailers to our valued online customers all in one website with a ’Google fashion label.’”

For one similar social-shopping site, Boutiques.com further confirms what the Web has meant for shopping and apparel.

“Google’s entry into the fashion e-commerce world validates the space and its potential,” said Jennifer Yuille, head of communications for Mountain View, Calif.–based Polyvore. Polyvore is participating in Boutiques.com, and its user-created set collages are integrated into the site to provide insight into how to wear a particular look. Yuille said that Boutiques.com is not seen as a competitor to Polyvore but as another outlet to expose a new audience to Polyvore’s user-generated content.

One important point raised is whether an algorithm can accurately gauge the changing tastes and trends of stylish consumers.

“Overall, the big question is how effective and relevant can an algorithm be in a space that’s very nuanced and changing constantly,” said Anne Zehren, chief executive officer of Sunnyvale, Calif.–based social-shopping site Kaboodle. “The best way to be relevant in fashion is through actual humans giving you constant feedback, selecting the products and telling you which things they love. That’s the invaluable element of social commerce: Your customers are informing your product offerings, not a scientific algorithm.”

A drawback could be the site’s lack of social interaction, whereas other sites emphasize more social networking, sharing, editorial strategies and peer-to-peer influence.

“Boutiques.com stands to become one of the leading drivers of transactions among comparison-shopping sites for e-tailers in the fashion space,” said Matt Edelman, chief executive officer of Santa Monica, Calif.–based social-shopping site ThisNext. “But it isn’t going to be social actions or social content that drives leads from Boutiques.com to their e-commerce partners.”—Connie Cho