Company: Weyrich Enterprises
Website: www.divaliciousapp.com
Founders: Andrew Weyrich and Rich Kessler
Headquarters: Fairfax, VA
Year Founded: 2010
Twitter: @DivaliciousApp
Facebook: www.facebook.com/divaliciousapp
Brief Company Description: “Weyrich Enterprises is the inventor of Divalicious, a revolutionary mobile shopping application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, which was created to make mobile shopping easier than ever by featuring nearly one million fashion and beauty items from 300 popular brands in one centralized location.”
By Rich Kessler, co-founder and CTO
Product Overview
Divalicious is a new mobile shopping app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch that completely changes the way you shop. By giving users access to 300 retailers, we put an end to driving from store to store, standing in long checkout lines, and having to search for the size you need only to find out it’s out of stock. The full day adventure at the mall is a thing of the past. Those hours you couldn’t spare but had to, can be yours again with everything at the tip of your fingers.
We wanted to create the ultimate social shopping experience. Before the online social world exploded, people would call their friends and try to find a time and place to meet that worked for everyone, and then follow each other from store to store. With Divalicious, we make it easy to include all of your friends, and more, in your buying experience. With the ability to post items you like to Facebook, Twitter and email, you can receive opinions on a dress you were not sure about buying or share that new patio set with your wife or husband before you buy. We took the experience a step further with the revolutionary ‘Dress Yourself’ feature. You can take items from your wish list, or as you shop, and “try them on” on a virtual mannequin or a photo of yourself from your camera roll. With the ability to scale and move each clothing item and remove as much of the background as you wish, users can now see exactly what they would look like in an outfit. In addition, you can share this outfit, as well get instant feedback from your friends and family.
Founders’ Story
Divalicious literally came from a dream I had in which I was browsing and creating an outfit on my mobile device. When I presented the idea to my business partner, Andrew Weyrich, he immediately took it that one step further to shopping online from any store you could think of.
The idea that people don’t have enough time in their day to spend shopping from store to store, worrying about what they might wear on a particular night, imagining what it may look like with a piece from a different store, is what drove us to make this the best experience anyone could have. Being able to visit 300 stores, finding exactly what you need for your wardrobe, your living room or even your garden, and share it with your friends was something we could have used years ago. Everyone is pressed for time these days, especially young professionals and young parents. It’s challenging to make time for everything, so we created Divalicious to make life that much simpler for everyone.
Marketing/Promotion Strategy
We took a strong approach to marketing this app and making sure that nobody missed out on the opportunity to experience the convenience it offered. A long form and short form video were created to give people an overview of Divalicious. The videos appear on YouTube, our Facebook page and have prominent placement on our website. Most app developers don’t go far enough with marketing, but we wanted to make sure no stone was left unturned and sent out a nationwide press release to every fashion blog, website and magazine that would cover something like this. Those initiatives along with our daily Twitter blasts have been amazingly positive.
How We Differentiate from the Competition
Unlike some previous shopping apps, we decided not to limit ourselves on what would be offered. With the full range of products available to us through the API Shop Sense, we felt that cutting out even one category could cost us potential sales and limit our audience. We are the only shopping app in the market today that allows the user to completely customize and ‘try on’ their outfits before purchasing them. No other shopping app gives you the chance to upload a photo of yourself and see just how you would look with the top you’ve had your eye on.
As guys, we know that we’re not always the best judge of outfits, which is why we took advantage of user created outfits within the API and added a feature—for both men and women—called ‘Related Looks.’ This allows anyone the ability to see what others have put together using any given item from within the app.
Business Model
Divalicious currently receives a percentage of each item click to that retailer’s website. We are always looking to expand our revenue stream with sponsorship, as well as expand our brand and increase sales through endorsements.
Current Needs
Divalicious is currently looking at all options available to us. As previously mentioned, we are looking long and hard at sponsorship opportunities within the app itself, as well as hopefully bringing a corporate sponsor on board in the near future. Divalicious is currently funded in-house.
Divalicious – www.divaliciousapp.com
