Improving Fashion Sales with Alterations: Insights from Cimu's CEO

US clothing sizing is based on a model created around World War II to help establish uniforms for aviation women. This outdated model has not evolved, leading to a persistent issue where clothing does not fit the majority of shoppers, especially those who do not fit the "standard" body type used for sizing.

The problem is exacerbated for online shopping, where shoppers cannot physically try on items. Many end up buying multiple sizes, only to return what doesn't fit, leading to high return rates that are costly for retailers. Alternatively, shoppers may simply discard clothes that don't fit, contributing to fashion waste.

The root cause is that fashion sizing caters to a narrow range of body types, leaving a large portion of shoppers unable to find clothes that fit as intended. This disconnect between sizing and real-world bodies results in a frustrating experience for shoppers and a significant challenge for online retailers.

Cimu is an AI-powered platform that helps online fashion retailers reduce returns by connecting shoppers with local tailors. The key aspects of Cimu's solution are:

• When a shopper receives a clothing item that doesn't fit properly, instead of returning it, Cimu puts them in touch with a nearby tailor who can alter the item to the shopper's desired fit.
• Cimu aims to make the alteration process as seamless and affordable as possible, often providing free alterations to the shopper.
• By facilitating these local tailoring services, Cimu helps prevent clothing items from ending up in landfills, addressing the environmental impact of fashion waste.
• Cimu is building a network of tailors, onboarding them through an internal app and helping to establish communication and scheduling with shoppers.
• The company is initially focusing on building out the tailor network, as finding reliable and accessible tailors is a major challenge in the U.S. market.
• Cimu's long-term goal is to integrate its solution directly into the returns portals of major online fashion retailers, making the alteration option readily available to shoppers.

The core of Cimu's approach is to provide a convenient and cost-effective alternative to returning ill-fitting clothing, thereby reducing the burden of returns for retailers while also promoting more sustainable fashion consumption.

Cimu's approach to connecting online shoppers with local tailors offers several key benefits:

1. Reducing Clothing Waste: By providing a convenient solution for getting clothes altered instead of returned, Cimu helps prevent clothing from ending up in landfills. This aligns with their mission to address the environmental impact of fashion waste.

2. Improving Customer Satisfaction: Cimu's service gives customers the ability to get their online purchases tailored to fit properly, addressing a major pain point of online clothing shopping. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and reduced returns.

3. Addressing Sizing Challenges: Cimu recognizes that standard clothing sizing often does not cater to the diverse body types of consumers. By connecting shoppers with local tailors, they enable customers to get a personalized fit, overcoming the sizing issues that plague the fashion industry.

4. Supporting Local Businesses: Cimu's model helps drive business to local tailor shops, many of which are small, independent businesses. This supports the local economy and helps preserve the tailoring trade.

5. Reducing Costs for Retailers: By reducing the volume of returns, Cimu's service can save online fashion retailers significant costs associated with processing and handling returned items.

Overall, Cimu's approach offers a win-win solution, benefiting both consumers and retailers while also promoting sustainability in the fashion industry.

Building Cimu's network of tailors has been a significant challenge for the company. Casey explains that onboarding tailors has required a hands-on, in-person approach, as many tailors, often immigrants, do not fully understand Cimu's model over the phone.

The tailoring industry in the US is highly decentralized, with many small, cash-only, mom-and-pop shops that lack an online presence. This makes it difficult to find and connect with potential partners. Additionally, language barriers are common, as many tailors are immigrants sewing ethnic wear.

To overcome these challenges, Casey and her co-founder have had to physically visit tailoring shops, ethnic wear stores, and community centers to explain Cimu's offering and onboard tailors onto their internal app. This time-intensive process is necessary to build trust and ensure tailors understand how Cimu can provide them with a consistent stream of customers.

Despite these difficulties, Casey remains focused on growing Cimu's tailor network, as she believes it is a critical component of solving the clothing fit and returns problem for online shoppers. Establishing this network is a key priority for the company in 2024 as they work to transition from a "duct-taped" MVP to a more robust, scalable solution.

In 2024, Cimu's primary focus is on building a more consistent and streamlined user experience. The company is currently in the process of finishing an internal app, similar to the Uber driver app, to better onboard and manage their network of tailors.

Cimu is also in talks with larger retailers, with the goal of integrating their service into the retailers' returns portals. This integration would allow Cimu to seamlessly connect shoppers with local tailors when they are considering returning an item that doesn't fit properly.

The company's previous test run was described as "duct-taped" together, and the team is now working to move from a "skateboard" level of product to a "bike" level. The long-term aspiration is to eventually build a "car" - a fully-fledged, scalable marketplace solution.

Cimu's founder acknowledges that building a marketplace is challenging, and the team initially did not set out to create one. However, the founder's personal experience with clothing fit issues and the difficulty of finding reliable tailors in the US has driven the company's focus on this problem.

The founder believes that while the idea is important, execution is ultimately more critical. Cimu is prioritizing the tailor side of the marketplace first, as the founder is more certain about the difficulty of finding tailors in the US compared to the long-term viability of the retail partnerships.

Overall, Cimu's plans for 2024 center around refining the user experience, expanding their tailor network, and integrating with larger retail partners to provide a seamless solution for shoppers and reduce clothing waste.

I think I came in here with a very strong answer leaning towards the execution side. However, I have since weakened that position slightly. When I started SEU, I had other ideas in mind, and they were not just not scalable or not profitable. I remember when I had been a part of a cohort, there were other Founders who were also working in fashion who had similar ideas to mine, and they also didn't pursue that exact same idea because again, it was not just not profitable or it was not.

While I would like to say that it's the idea that matters the most, I think ultimately, realistically, it's more about execution. The execution of the idea is crucial in determining the success of a startup. Having a great idea is important, but if you can't effectively execute on that idea, it won't matter. The ability to turn an idea into a successful business requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and problem-solving skills. It's the execution that ultimately separates the successful startups from the ones that fail.