California Apparel News

In the fast-moving world of mobile apps, San Francisco Bay area–headquartered PredictSpring is betting on speed.

The company unveiled a new iOS and Android app for mall retailer Pacific Sunwear. Images for clothes, data for loyalty plans and sweepstakes, and, of course, shopping don’t just load in seconds on the PredictSpring app. They load in milliseconds, said Nitin Mangtani, founder and chief executive officer of PredictSpring. “People have very little patience,” Mangtani said. “A three-second matrix is no longer relevant. People will waste no longer than a second.”

PredictSpring has developed omni-channel experiences, brand and shopping presences to engage with desktop computers, smartphones and other devices. PredictSpring has worked with clients such as Cole Haan, Charlotte Russe and Calvin Klein.

Also, PredictSpring has been looking for growth. In June 2016, it announced $11.6 million in series A funding. The company is setting a place for itself in an increasingly crowded market. There are more than 4 million apps in the Apple and Google Play app stores, according to Forrester Research Inc. analyst Michael Facemire.

In a July 2017 report, titled “The Mobile Mind Shift Road Map,” Facemire wrote that technology options are overflowing with possibility. They “seem to be spiraling out of control,” he wrote. The challenge for business leaders, he said, is to build a digital experience strategy that will serve many purposes.

When putting together PacSun’s app, which was unveiled in April, Mangtani said that he took inspiration from two of the most popular Internet sites: Instagram and Uber. “Instagram is all about inspiration,” Mangtani said. “It is rich media. It’s about inspiration and building a connection with the brand. It brings the best experience.”

Before starting PredictSpring in 2013, Mangtani served as a group product manager at Google, where he led the Google Shopping Merchant Experience team. On PredictSpring’s PacSun app, consumers will be able to shop styles as they do on the brand’s Instagram account (@pacsun).

The inspiration from Uber is all about speed, Mangtani said. “Once you decide to buy something, it should be already to go. It should be as seamless as ordering an Uber. It should be as easy as pressing a button.”

A reason for PredictSpring’s speed is its architecture. The company builds its apps from scratch and makes them specifically for a certain purpose, such as m-commerce. Mangtani contends that many apps are slow because they are constructed for desktop computers. Those apps must take extra steps before they can translate an experience built for desktop into m-commerce.

PacSun has already seen extra sales from the new app, said Eugene Lai, director of digital for PacSun. “Since partnering with PredictSpring, PacSun has increased [year-over-year] app revenue by 45.8 percent and we have enhanced our app experience to engage with our customers in a meaningful way,” he said in a statement.

While the current time seems to be a gold-rush era for apps, they may not be for everybody, said Jill DaSilva, founder and head of product design for Los Angeles–based Digital Karma LLC. She also sits on the board of advisers for the Interaction Design Program at Santa Monica College. “Companies have to justify the cost of development and maintenance to build these things,” she said. “The return on investment has to be there. The usage has to be there. Every company is different. Every demographic is different. These are considerations people should think about,” she said.