Can AI fix Stitch Fix?
The clothing subscription service posted its first quarter of sales growth in three years — now it’s doubling down on AI.
Stitch Fix, the online personal styling service that sends handpicked outfits to your door, has had a rough few years.
Founded in 2011, the company’s relatively narrow appeal — to those who didn’t like clothes shopping and didn’t want to choose what they wear — widened massively during the pandemic, as shops shuttered and fashion went online. But as quickly as the hype came, it disappeared, with the SFIX’s stock dropping more than 90% between January 2021 and the summer of 2022 as customers ditched the platform for rival subscriptions, or just went back to shopping in real life again.
There are some positive signs, however, as the company posted its first top-line growth in three years, with net revenues climbing 0.7% year over year in its latest quarter. Unfortunately, its key active user figure is still dropping: falling from a pandemic-era peak of 4.3 million users, the company now counts a threadbare 2.4 million as of the end of May.
Now the company — which makes money by charging a $20 styling fee for all “fixes” alongside the clothes themselves — is hoping AI can help drive growth.
This week the company announced a new AI “Style Assistant” for clients, as well as new AI-powered visual tools to help you see what you might look like wearing that new scarf, sweater, or T-shirt.
Will millions of people rush out to ask an AI’s opinion of how they look in their new clothes? Considering that many already use AI as a therapist, a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a career counselor, it doesn’t feel like much of a stretch to think they’d also ask it for fashion advice.
The problem SFIX might run into is: what if ChatGPT or DeepSeek or Claude can also do this — will people open a separate AI app just for fashion? Stitch Fix’s new boss, Matt Baer, who was tasked with fixing Stitch Fix when he became CEO in June 2023, is betting the answer is yes.
