1. Can I borrow this?
No. of customer
interviews
Day 1 21
Day 2 13
Day 3 11
Day 4 20
Total 65
“Peer-to-peer fashion rental platform for women”
Claire Allison, Masha Breitmann, Wayne Chu, Chelsea Crowder, Seema Gohil
3. Day 1:
Idea
• Create a peer-to-peer platform allowing
women to rent clothes, shoes, bags and
accessories from each other
• Solve: “I have nothing to wear”
“Refuse to get rid of anything I own”
4. Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer
Relationships
Customer
Segments
Website developer
Payment processing
service (ex. Braintree)
Shipping partner
Drycleaner
Garment bag supplier
Fashion bloggers
High-end thrift stores
Travel / hotel resources
Sizing Technology
Building, hosting and
maintaining an easy to
use website
Inventory photography,
editing & descriptions
Curating items
Payments (accepting &
distributing)
Shipping & logistics
Monetize closets
without having to sell
items
Better economic value
than current options
(thrift / consignment)
Access to inventory
outside of what is
available for purchase
Access to clothing
without having to pay
retail prices
Providing an official
channel for lending to
friends (deals with the
drama)
Revolving closet -
answers the "I hate
everything I own” issue
College campus (word
of mouth - grass roots)
Social media
SEO
Customer referrals
(incentive programs –
reduced fee for x
amount of users)
Borrower:
- 16-45 female
- Tourists / travelers
both female & male
- Male 16-40 gay
community
Lender:
- 25-45 female with
<$250k annual
salary
- 25-45 gay male with
<$250k annual
salary
Key Channels
Key Resources
Website
College Campuses
Fashion Industry
Hotels or travel related
sites
Garment Bags
Shipping Boxes
Photography equipment
Costs Revenue
Website development SEO
Garment bags Marketing / customer acquisition
Payment processing Shipping
Transaction fees:
- 20% charged to lender
- 5% charged to borrower
Insurance
Shipping / Drycleaning fees
Sell rental information to retailers
DAY 1 CANVAS
5. What We Tested:
Are there interested borrowers?
• Spoke to college campus female students
• How do women currently dress for events?
• How much do they spend for different
events?
• Would they consider renting vs. buying or
borrowing?
• How much would they pay to rent vs. buy?
6. Hypothesis Result Takeaway
Women borrow clothes from
each other
True, typically from
roommates, close friends,
siblings, mother
Not creating a new activity
Women are willing to rent items
as well as borrow (pay for the
same action)
True Idea of online rental platform
was very appealing
Women don’t know their
measurements
True
Women are unwilling to measure
themselves & shop by
measurements vs. size
False, would be willing to take
that extra step and measure
themselves to solve fit concern
• Send a measuring tape to
women that don’t have one;
potential marketing tool
• Can remove size as a feature
on site
Using “real” women in pics vs.
models would help borrowers
estimate fit
True All pictures must display the item
by the person whose
measurements are being listed
Using real women vs. models
and non-professional photos may
impact the appeal and
marketability of items and site
False, women are dissatisfied
by the deception that professional
models and photographers have
Don’t need to spend the money
on models and professional
photographers
7. Hypothesis Result Takeaway
College students are extremely
price sensitive
False; price sensitivity
dependent on income level, not
age. Looking for value and
quality
Segment market based on income
levels
College students would be
willing to pay less for a rental
than a purchase
False; looking for a
combination of value and quality
The % saved was not a driving
force to rent vs. buy. More based
on dollars available for that event
College students would be
unwilling to pay for shipping /
courier
False; Will pay for courier
service for the ease
Build courier service fee into the
model
That women borrow/shop clothes
for an event based functions vs.
everyday wear
True Channeling users on the website
by event vs. item is OK
8. Day 2:
What we tested:
• Women who worked in fashion (retail /
modeling) would be good lenders
• Hotels could be good channels & partners
9. Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
-Website developer
- Payment processor -
Braintree
- Shipping partner
- Courier Partner
- Drycleaner
- Garment bag supplier
- Fashion bloggers
- High-end thrift stores
- Travel / hotel
resources
- Sizing Technology
- Website production &
maintenance
- Inventory
photography, editing &
descriptions
- Curating items
- Payment processing
- Managing Shipping &
logistics
- Inventory access (vs. direct
network and/or purchase)
- Style & curation
- Cheaper than retail purchase;
save $
- Solves fit dilemma by using
measurements
- Real people in the photos
- Hassle-free delivery
- Revolving closet answers the "I
hate everything I own” issue
-Monetize closets without selling
items
- Better value than thrift /
consignment/ donation
- Channel to lend to friends
(damage, cleaning)
- repeating revenue stream
- Revenue on shelf inventory
- Additional service
- Access to new customers
- College campus (word of
mouth - grass roots)
- College Ambassadors
(various income ranges)
- Social media
- SEO
- Customer referrals
(incentive programs –
reduced fee for x amount
of users)
Borrower:
• 16-45 Females
- social
- borrow clothes /shop
online
A: Income $10k-$50k
B: Income $50k-$300k
C: Income $300k+
• Travelers (female &
male)
• Male 16-40 gay
community
Lender:
- 25-45 female with
<$250k annual salary
- 25-45 gay male with
<$250k annual salary
Fashion bloggers
High-end thrift stores
Travel / hotel resources
Key Channels
Key Resources Website
College Campuses
Fashion Industry
Hotels or travel related
sites
- Garment Bags
- Shipping Boxes
- Photography
equipment
Costs Revenue
- Website development - SEO
- Garment bags - Marketing / customer acquisition
- Payment processing Shipping
• Transaction fees:
- 20% charged to lender - 20% charge
- 5% charged to borrower - Free
• Insurance
• Shipping / Drycleaning fees
• Sell rental information to retailers
10. Hypothesis Result Takeaway
Women that work in retail would
be good lenders
True • Access to fashion through fashion
allowance & samples
• Less restrictions than women that
work for designer brands
Additional:
• Need to determine restrictions and
workarounds for girls that work
for brands
Models would be good lenders True • Receive lots of free items – most
of which is never worn
• No restrictions from agencies
• Enjoy the prospect of having
followers and being featured as
trendsetters
Additional:
• While merchandise type is ideal,
model sizing will restrict utilty
Hotels would be good channels /
partners
False • Too late in the process flow
• Customers do not request any
clothing / apparel services
Additional:
• Partnering other travel services
such as AirBnB (“travel like a
human” – “dress like a local”)
11. Day 3:
What we tested:
• JUST DO IT!!!!!!!!
• Built a site and tested it with customers to get feedback
• 50 inventory items on a Wix site
• Tested the platform in Bryant Park
• Variables tested:
−Borrower profile
−Pricing
−Image quality and presentation
−Measurements
12. Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
-Website developer
- Payment processor
- Braintree
- Shipping partner
- Courier Partner
(Urban Express)
- Drycleaner
- Garment bag
supplier
- Fashion bloggers
- High-end thrift
stores
- Travel / hotel
resources
- Sizing Technology
- Website production &
maintenance
- Inventory photography,
editing & descriptions
- Curating items
- Payment processing
- Managing Shipping &
logistics
- Social acceptance
- Unique Inventory access (vs.
direct network and/or purchase)
- Style & curation
- Cheaper than retail purchase;
save $
- Solves fit dilemma by using
measurements
- Real people in the photos
- Hassle-free delivery
-Clothing for destination
- Revolving closet answers the "I
hate everything I own” issue
-Social validation
-Monetize closets without selling
items
- Better value than thrift /
consignment/ donation
- Channel to lend to friends
(damage, cleaning)
- repeating revenue stream
- Revenue on shelf inventory
- Additional service
- Access to new customers
- College campus (word of
mouth - grass roots)
- College Ambassadors
(various income ranges)
- Social media
- SEO
- Customer referrals
(incentive programs –
reduced fee for x amount of
users)
Borrower:
• 16-45 Female / Gay /
Men over 15
- social acceptance
- borrow clothes /shop
online
A: Income $10k-$50k
B: Income $50k-$300k
C: Income $300k+
• Travelers (female &
male)
• 16-40 gay community
Lender:
Female / Gay / Men over 15
Social validation,
tastemakers, access to
fashion
- 25-45 female with
<$250k annual salary
- 25-45 gay male with
<$250k annual salary
Fashion bloggers,Industry
High-end thrift stores
Travel / hotel resources
Travel Websites / AirBnb
Key Channels
Key Resources Website
College Campuses
Fashion Industry
Hotels or travel related sites
- Garment Bags
- Shipping Boxes
- Photography equipment
Costs Revenue
- Website development - SEO
- Garment bags - Marketing / customer acquisition
- Payment processing Shipping
• Transaction fees: 20% lender , 20% thrift, 5%borrower
- Free
• Insurance , Shipping / Drycleaning fees
• Sell rental information to retailers
14. Day 4:
What we tested:
• Who are our lenders?
• Tested via in-person customer engagement:
o Setup table outside Equinox to recruit lenders
• Created Kookopa “Lender” website (www.kookopalenders.com)
o Scalable method via web based search
o Supported by Facebook Ads and Google Adwords
• Tested customer acquisition methods
15. Key Partners Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments
-Website developer
- Payment processor
- Braintree
- Shipping partner
- Courier Partner
(Urban Express)
- Drycleaner
- Garment bag
supplier
- Fashion bloggers
- High-end thrift
stores
- Travel / hotel
resources
- Sizing Technology
- Website production &
maintenance
- Inventory photography,
editing & descriptions
- Curating items
- Payment processing
- Managing Shipping &
logistics
- Social acceptance
- Unique Inventory access (vs.
direct network and/or purchase)
- Style & curation
- Cheaper than retail purchase;
save $
- Solves fit dilemma by using
measurements
- Real people in the photos
- Hassle-free delivery
-Clothing for destination
- Revolving closet answers the "I
hate everything I own” issue
-Social validation
-Monetize closets without selling
items
- Concierge service
- Better value than thrift /
consignment/ donation
- Channel to lend to friends
(damage, cleaning)
- repeating revenue stream
- Revenue on shelf inventory
- Additional service
- Access to new customers
- College campus (word of
mouth - grass roots)
- College Ambassadors
(various income ranges)
- Social media
- SEO
- Customer referrals
(incentive programs –
reduced fee for x amount of
users)
Borrower:
• 16-45 Female / Gay /
Men over 15
- social acceptance
- borrow clothes /shop
online
A: Income $10k-$50k
B: Income $50k-$300k
C: Income $300k+
• Travelers (female &
male)
• 16-40 gay community
Lender:
Female / Gay / Men over 15
Social validation,
tastemakers, access to
fashion
- 25-45 female with
<$250k annual salary
- 25-45 gay male with
<$250k annual salary
Fashion bloggers,Industry
High-end thrift stores
Travel / hotel resources
Travel Websites / AirBnb
Key Channels
Key Resources Website
College Campuses
Fashion Industry
Hotels or travel related sites
- Garment Bags
- Shipping Boxes
- Photography equipment
Costs Revenue
- Website development - SEO
- Garment bags - Marketing / customer acquisition
- Payment processing Shipping
• Transaction fees: 20% lender , 20% thrift, 5%borrower
- Free
• Insurance , Shipping / Drycleaning fees
• Sell rental information to retailers
16. EXPERIMENTS (LENDERS)
What we found out:
In-person Customer Engagement
• Setup table outside Equinox to
recruit lenders
• Limited engagement due to time
of day (morning) and low traffic
location
• Interest from 8 potential lenders
−Baby Boomer segment showed
surprising interest to be lenders
Continuing thought… How to match lenders and
borrowers if lenders are from another demographic
which impacts style
25. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS: BORROWER
Initial Targeted Borrower:
• Women
• Age 15 - 25
• “Social Image”
• Crave Social Interaction
o Post everything to Facebook, Instagram etc.
o Social butterfly
• Desires to look good – fashion forward
• Reads People magazine, fashion blogs
• Shops at discount retailers (Gilt, the Outnet)
• Shops at sample sales
• Income < $150,000 annually
26. VALUE PROPOSITION (BORROWERS)
Pain / Need Gain
Fear of rejection Social acceptance
Insecurity Self esteem
Fear of loneliness Sense of belonging / fitting in; Social
validation
“Ugly Betty” syndrome Styling advice & guidance
Budget limitation Saving money
Clutter / Space Save closet space
Time, inconvenience, frustration with
buying
Hassle-free process
Uncertainty with buying something that
doesn’t fit
Confidence in look / feel with
measurements and real models
27. CUSTOMER SEGMENTS:
LENDER ARCHETYPE
Initial Targeted Lender:
• Women
• Age 25 - 45
• Tastemakers / trendsetters
• Professionals, or work in fashion industry
• Enjoy social validation / recognition
• Not attached to their items – items aren’t splurges
• Spend large proportion of income on fashion
• Reads W magazine, InStyle, Vogue
• Shop at Net-A-Porter, Moda Operandi
• Income > $150,000
28. VALUE PROPOSITION (LENDERS)
Pain / Need Gain
Style Validation Recognition as a trendsetter / stylist
Way to monetize closets that are worth
while
Additional income
Reduce feel of waste Using the item / don’t feel like it was
wasted
Feel good that you helped someone
else look good
30. Total Addressable Market:
$104.5Bn
Served Market: $7.8Bn
Opportunity:
$80MM
MARKET SIZE
Total Market:
• Annual spending in the US for
Apparel (includes male and
female consumers over the
age of 16)
Served Market:
• Online sales account for 10%
of the total apparel market
• 75% women
Targeted Opportunity:
• Women only
• US
• Converting 1% of the online
apparel purchases to rentals
40. KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
• Total website traffic vs. conversion rate
• Average number of transactions per user
• Average transaction value ($)
• RTR average value of $125
• Average income margins
• Inventory items per size
• Customer acquisition costs for both customer types (lender &
borrower)
• LTV of customer
41. COMPARATIVE FINANCIAL
ANALYSIS
Rent the Runway 2011
RTR revenue 20,000,000$
Average rental price 125$
# of Annual Transactions 160,000
Kookopa 2014
% share of customers 5% 8,000
Average rental price 75$
Transaction Value 600,000$
% Transaction Fee 25% 150,000$
42. UNIT ECONOMICS
Per Unit Cost Analysis
Retail Value 250.00$ 750.00$ 1,250.00$
Rental Price (10%) 25.00 75.00 125.00
Insurance (minor) 5.00 5.00 5.00
Drycleaning 10.00 10.00 10.00
Total Item Cost 40.00 90.00 140.00
Shipping 12.00 12.00 12.00
Total Cost to Borrower 52.00 102.00 152.00
Revenue:
Transaction Fees 25% 10.00$ 22.50$ 35.00$
Insurance 25% 1.25$ 1.25$ 1.25$
11.25$ 23.75$ 36.25$
Costs:
Garment Bag (0.50)$ (0.50)$ (0.50)$
Cust. Acquisition (5.00)$ (5.00)$ (5.00)$
Total Costs (5.50)$ (5.50)$ (5.50)$
Net profit/item 5.75$ 18.25$ 30.75$
Margin % 51.11% 76.84% 84.83%
Breakeven Analysis
Startup Costs 200,000$
# transactions needed 34,783 10,959 6,504
% of RTR 2011 market share 21.74% 6.85% 4.07%
44. So much more to do…..
• Find the fit between lenders and borrowers
• Run A/B tests for:
o User uploaded pictures vs. professional photographs
o Models vs. real people on marketing vs. product pages
o Pricing models
o Pricing draws (discount on value, $ value vs. retail etc.)
o Advertising on pains vs. gains of value proposition
• Test full process (delivery, insurance, payments)
• Research costs of concierge service
• Partner discovery: AirBnb, consignment stores
