How Tote Aims to Be the Resy of In-store Shopping With AI Tech, High Conversion Rates and Elevated Experiences

Tote, the retail technology company that facilitates a bridge between online shopping and in-store experiences, has announced its official launch. The company rolled out its product in 2023 and has seen quick success partnering with more than 50 retail brands and more than 80 stores from small boutiques to large retailers including Bandier, Still Here, Ramy Brook and Susan Alexandra.

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Created to give consumers an elevated shopping experience, Tote is designed to be built into a brand’s e-commerce front-end with their store inventory on the backend and allows shoppers to select products that will virtually fill a fitting room and schedule a time to try on in-store. Tote’s proprietary artificial intelligence and machine-learning algorithm also gives consumers recommendations based on the colors, patterns and general aesthetic or styles of what the individual is selecting to try on.

The technology addresses the increasing cohort of consumers who begin the shopping journey online before moving in-store, also considering those shoppers who abandon full carts unsure of sizing and those who create more work for the retailer by ordering multiple sizes while providing an elevated service. Importantly, the solution is not limited to brands and retailers with physical locations. Tote’s virtual styling sessions are also available at stockists’ locations.

Daniel Nickel, founder and chief executive officer of Tote, said the technology was built to “[tap] into how shoppers not only want to interact with brands but how they expect to interact with brands.” While many shoppers have been using Tote to get a high-touch, 30-minute session with a stylist, others use the appointments to verify available sizing in-store. “We’re allowing brands to meet each shopper where they’re at, and that type of personalization is why we’ve seen over 3,600 fitting rooms booked this year already.”

Notably, the founder told WWD that the impetus for Tote came from his own shopping experience, specifically having gone into a store in New York’s TriBeCa area to try on a jacket he had seen on the brand’s website. “They told me that the jacket was only in the Upper East Side store, which didn’t help me because I live in Brooklyn,” Nickel said. As many consumers do, Nickel returned home and ordered four jackets online (two different styles in two different sizes) with the knowledge that he would return at least three — in this case, he returned all four.

“It dawned on me later that this was a bad, but all too common, experience — not just for me, but for the brand too. I didn’t get what I wanted and then was saddled with returns, but the brand also missed out on a sale, paid for shipping twice and paid the cost to reprocess items that were now out of stock for [several] weeks. Even if I had kept something, the returns would cut into the margins of the item I kept.”

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From the brand’s side, companies using Tote have access a dashboard to manage fitting room appointments and gain access to purchasing and revenue data as well as Tote’s store flow management solution, which tracks how shoppers move through stores and fitting rooms and built out employee profiles for clienteling to further elevate the customer journey.

Brand partners using Tote have reported great success using the technology, with feedback pointing to a more intentional customer. Already, the technology has seen a 96 percent conversion rate for shoppers making a purchase when using the service. Additionally, Tote users spend 1.5 to three times more per order on average and have a less than 2 percent return rate.

Nickel said that through Tote’s solution, his goal is to bring joy back to shopping. “Fashion should be defined by individuality and personality, but too often negative experiences outweigh the positive ones. If we’re helping shoppers get what they want, that leads to stronger relationships and more loyalty for brands and everyone wins.”

Looking ahead, Nickel said that he sees shoppers starting to expect that every brand they shop with to offer Tote’s service and functionality. “Tote [has] become the first thing shoppers check to discover new stores in any city and which items are available in that store.” He looks forward to the day that “Tote” becomes a noun, much like “booking an Uber” or “making a Resy.”

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