Net-a-Porter launches ‘first luxury shoppable mobile social network’
The luxury fashion e-tailer, Net-a-Porter, has launched a social network app which allows users to flaunt their style and engage with others of a like mind as well as the designers and brands that make the clothes and accessories they are wearing.
The Net Set app (a play on "jet set") is set to launch on an invitation only basis on May 13. According to Fashion Times, the app already has 15,000 members who took part in its beta test in 2013. Brands that sell on Net-a-Porter’s site will get their own portal allowing them to interact with customers on an individual basis.
A review of the app by Vogue said users fill out their profiles and "like" trending items by clicking on a red heart. They are able to follow friends and fashion trendsetters as well as "style tribes" with names such as "Rock Chic" and "The Bohemians." Users can upload a photo of something they like and receive "style matches" of items they might like in return.
"We are incredibly excited to launch the world’s first luxury shoppable mobile social network where fashionable digital women all over the world can connect and enjoy a unique and seamless shopping experience across all devices," said Natalie Massenet, founder and executive chairman, in a statement. "The rise of social media and style blogs has shown that women around the world are inspired by each other’s style and their closets. The Net Set is to mobile in 2015 what Net-A-Porter.com was to desktop in 2000."
![[Image: Net Set]](/public/images/discussions/18265/net-set-still.jpg)
According to The Telegraph, Net-a-porter’s announcement coincides with news that fashion retailers in the U.K., including ASOS, Selfridges and Urban Outfitters, announced their Instagram accounts will soon be fully shoppable using the LikeToKnow.It app. Consumers with the app that "like" an image on Instagram are sent an email with a link to where they can buy the product.
Discussion Questions
Will Net-a-Porter’s Net Set app encourage social shopping among luxury fashion consumers? Do you see social shopping apps becoming a major influence on sales in the mass fashion world?
Poll
BrainTrust
Max Goldberg
President, Max Goldberg & Associates
Tony Orlando
Owner, Tony O's Supermarket and Catering
Another app that has 15,000 users is not something to brag about. I don’t see why this new app is so special, how it will truly differentiate itself from a crowded field and how this concept could not be easily copied by competitors.
A billion new apps and more coming everyday does not impress me. What impresses me is when I go into Macy’s and my favorite sales person greets me and helps fit me for a new suit, or hands me the coupon for 25 percent off that I left on my kitchen table. For me, I like to deal with real people, and that is what will keep brick-and-mortar stores going long after the billion apps get deleted from our jam-packed smartphones.
There really is something special about the individual in any business who “gets it” and makes your shopping experience fun and very social. People still crave that, as the internet world is efficient but not warm and fuzzy. Warm and fuzzy is what brick-and-mortar stores can and should do. I am not knocking this app in any way, but I think you know how I feel about what the shopping experience should be, as I have written about this many times. I can not do what Amazon does very well, but they can not do what a great associate does either. So yes we can coexist if exceptional service is given, and there is no alternative to that.
Wait, it’s a luxury shoppable mobile social network? What’s the acronym for that: LuShoMoSo? I’m sure it will be the next big thing.
Did they work with Pied Piper on this?
Building an app and getting it loaded to a smartphone is far easier than building a social media success. Therein lies the dilemma businesses are having with e-commerce. To date there is no proven method of ensuring that prospects can find a good, proven or better solution source. This is very much why the world is chained to companies like Google and Amazon. This is why so many of the laws we are making today are by design going to continue stunting the growth of internet success.
So I guess that’s a no for now.