A decade ago, data was dubbed to be the ‘oil of the modern world.’ Since then, the value of data has only grown. Today, every action we take goes on to become a vital part of the data source for organizations to enhance their business intelligence. This source and its need have further paved the way for data-driven tools and strategies for businesses to understand their customers better than before.
Kimberly Carney is one such visionary leader who understood the said importance of digital technology adoption back in 2009. It was during this time that the foundling seeds were sown for FashWire – a real-time data-driven platform for designers and brands.
However, after realizing that it was too early to enter the digitization field, Kimberly opted to work on the project at a later stage. Fast forward to 2018, FashWire was successfully launched. Today, the digital platform is known for fusing fashion with digital analytics to offer personalized services, collect instant feedback, and improve customers’ needs.
Coupling Fashion and Analytics
While Kimberly has always been a fan of fashion, her love for tech started back in her twenties. Picking it up as a career path, she served as a marketing leader for AT&T Mobile and two other companies in the dot-com era. Later down the line, she took a sabbatical from work to have a family and returned to the corporate world by establishing a marketing consulting company.
During her consultation work, Kimberly came across a boutique client who wanted to help her with the launch of her grand opening. Kimberly accompanied the client for the buying trip, one which led her to discover her own passion for fashion. And after six months, this new-found passion led her to establish a boutique of her own on the other side of town.
Talking about how she came up with the platform’s name and how it radiates a belief of togetherness, Kimberly asserts, “The element of ‘wire’ signifies connection, which is fluid, dynamic and always in motion. The Fash reference represents the fashion industry. The name does a great job communicating what makes us unique and helps us stand out in a crowded market. It creates a sense of togetherness, both for the brands and the connection they make to their consumers.”
Several years after owning the store, Kimberly realized the importance of digital technology in the consumer buying process. In particular, the realization was about target marketing and behavioral data.
“I saw tech becoming a key factor in driving buying decisions forward. Prior to the technology, all purchase decisions were made based on the previous season’s store numbers. I became convinced that connecting fashion designers and consumers by leveraging technology in an innovative, low cost and scalable way was the path to more successful fashion business,” states Kimberly.
With all the success FashWire received, various beauty retail executives and diverse brands asked her to launch a similar platform based on beauty retail. Kimberly listened to them and established GlossWire. And she has seen the same success with GlossWire as she had with FashWire, with the app landing #2 on the App Store Paid Shopping Apps.
Besides making strides in fashion industry, Kimberly also ensures that philanthropic causes remain an integral part of the FashWire DNA. In 2020, she created FashGive, an initiative to support and help raise funds and brand awareness for charitable causes. Each month, the company partners with a new charity offering $1 for every download of the FashWire and GlossWire mobile apps — having now raised over 100K for the various nonprofits.
A Tailor-made Experience
Kimberly says that the core of the business is connecting brands directly to consumers through real-time trending data and actionable insights. Hence, the platforms serve clients through proprietary swipe technology, which runs on a robust analytics engine. For the consumer, the platforms create a compelling interactive experience through social tools such as swiping, liking and sharing with the ability to build community and influence the designer in real-time.
“Users are able to see a brand’s entire product offering and swipe left if they love an item or swipe right if they would prefer to pass on an item. This instant consumer feedback allows brands to make better production decisions and improve their brand strategies. It encourages users to be influencers as their feedback becomes part of essential brand decision-making,” says Kimberly.
Having an analytics-based engine also helped the company to navigate the challenges of the pandemic. With such technology in place, FashWire was already ahead of the pandemic and uniquely positioned to give brands a digital platform to show their collections and interact with customers globally. The platform was like the perfect puzzle piece and played a significant role in blending personalization and human facilitation in the global pandemic.
A Firm Handshake
Besides having the proprietary swipe technology, Kimberly and her team work hard on maintaining the relationship with their brand partners. According to her, a fruitful relationship with the client is vital to her company’s success.
She states, “‘Brand partners’ collections and products drive consumer adoption and consumers want to meet the brands. Consumers want to go wherever the brands are and we offer this opportunity on a global scale.” Hence, Kimberly ensures that Fashion and Beauty are kept at the consumers fingertips through a global perspective.
Future Lookout
Kimberly is of the opinion that the fashion digital landscape will continue to evolve and brands need to adapt to stand out from the crowd . Brands and retailers are maintaining a strong brand identity with a great understanding of their customers. She also believes that her platform and data analytics solutions will change the facet of the industry by keeping customers at the heart of decisions.
Hence moving into the future, Kimberly has made the platform and its technology her biggest priority. “Our biggest priority is to continue to make sure our app and web-based platforms work really well for our userbase by adding new features and enhancing our algorithms to get the best personalized recommendations for each individual.”
Perceiving the tremendous growth of the platforms, Kimberly has also lined up innovations on the future roadmap to uplift the shopping experience even more. In addition, her focus on business intelligence for the fashion and beauty industries will also drive success for the platforms.
“We will continue to add brands on both FashWire and GlossWire as well as localization to support different languages. We strive to be the go-to platform for an engaged shopping experience between designers and consumers in the fashion and beauty industries. Additionally, we are currently building FashLuxe to bring high-end fashion brands to shoppers with the same compelling experience.”
Kimberly’s personal future plans also reflect the same that of the platforms. She looks forward to the impact digitization is making on her involved industries and is excited to see where the journey will take her next.
