[Sponsored by Deloitte] UNLOCK

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[Deloitte] UNLOCK PROJECT

I conducted research to minimize the environmental impact of the fashion industry and proposed digital solutions.

I've developed a digital solution for sustainable fashion. Let me introduce UNLOCK to you all! This project was created in collaboration between SVA and Deloitte.

In the United States, textile waste stands out as one of the fastest-growing waste streams, with the average person discarding 81 lbs of clothing annually. Despite recycling approximately 15% of post-consumer textiles, a significant 85% of our used clothing and other textiles end up as waste in landfills and incinerators, releasing carbon emissions.

Particularly, the fashion industry is responsible for 10 % of annual global carbon emissions, more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. At this pace, the fashion industry’s greenhouse gas emissions will surge more than 50 % by 2030. The key to prompting fashion producers to reduce production lies in consumers purchasing less. Unfortunately, this is far from the reality today.

Fashion brands consistently produce new trends, readily accessible to Millennials and Gen Z through social media and online shopping.

This accessibility fuels a cycle of overproduction and overconsumption, driven by the constant pursuit of the latest trends.

Building upon our initial desk research, we designated millennials and Gen Z as our target users, recognizing their regular consumption of fashion items and their vulnerability to the influence of current trends.

Interview 01

Despite being environmentally conscious, consumers do not always prioritize sustainability in their shopping decisions, often placing a greater emphasis on price and design.

(Voice quote - > jaehan)

“Sometimes they even have good messages people don't buy products. And I think majority of people don't buy the products based on the messages they buy things based on their profits.”

interview 02
Consumers often feel guilt when parting with unworn items, as a common approach involves trying to sell first and then donating the remaining ones.

(Voice quote - >Hillary)

“It definitely kind of like started from there of feeling like I didn't want to lose like all of the money that I spent but at least if I get like a little something in return it feels better. Right? Yeah, you don't feel as guilty.”

interview 03
Purchase satisfaction lies in how well new purchases harmonize with their existing wardrobe.

(Voice quote - > hyemin)

“I would definitely make sure that what I buy goes with my other stuff that I already have in my closet. So that would be like the most important and aspect that I would think about whenever I buy an item. So whatever that would go well with my closet at home. So that I think that will lead me to a satisfaction at the end. And I would wear them frequently.”

We developed our strategy that focuses on minimizing consumption, ultimately reducing the overall output of textile production. We achieve this by promoting wardrobe extension—allowing individuals to maximize the use of their existing clothing, sell unworn items to those interested, and buy from others who have items they aren't utilizing.

In our mission to extend people's wardrobes, we've centered our focus on three key opportunities: suggestions, selling and buying, and alterations. Our approach involves creating a fashion ecosystem, with users' digital wardrobe serving as the central hub.

Unlock effortlessly expands users’ wardrobe. By simply uploading items, Unlock generates outfit inspirations by integrating existing pieces, offering a variety of looks from users’ current collection. This approach aims to minimize the urge for additional purchases.

Selling becomes a breeze with Unlock. We've lowered the barriers to entry of selling, allowing users to upload items to their digital wardrobe first and provide details upon receiving offers - when users express their intent to sell during the item upload.

Inspiration page simplify the process of discovering and purchasing second-hand items that seamlessly match their wardrobe. This not only comes at a lower price but also potentially offers better quality and unique designs.

After users input their size information into the fit guide, fit suggestions guide users through selling, buying, and even alterations, reducing risks in online second-hand purchases and expediting future sales.

To prevent the disposal of slightly damaged items, our accessible alteration service connects users with nearby specialists. For fashion enthusiasts, the option to purchase redesigned pieces from them adds an extra charm.

So, what is our roadmap to 'Unlock' this platform, Our MVP will emphasize the foundational and sales phases, prioritizing desirable features for customers. These include a comprehensive size guide, a precise Outfit-Matching Recommendation Model, Eco-feedback, and fundamental features from E-commerce.

For phase 2, our goal is to enhance user engagement by encouraging sustainable practices. We aim to introduce a loyalty program called Eco-credit, enabling users to earn points for platform purchases, further incentivising sustainable behaviors.

in Phase 3, the focus extends beyond sales to include business enhancement. Introducing subscription features will grant sellers access to advanced tools for sales analytics, gaining deeper customer insights, and refining their selling strategies based on market reports.

This service targets Millennials and Gen Z. Therefore, we researched the volume scale of these demographics and figured out the number of people who have used secondhand shops before. To secure initial users, we plan to promote the MVP model using marketing expenses. For this step, we will spend the initial six months creating the MVP model for the launching app.
Furthermore, we plan to use a pre-launch notification service to predict market demand and announce the launching app. Our goal is to launch the app with the aim of securing an initial 10,000 Monthly Active Users (MAU).

Assuming we've secured that traffic, we've conceptualized three revenue models. The first one is commission fees. Customers are required to pay 20% of the selling price when they sell an item. Another revenue model is a subscription model. We encourage users to make purchases from second-hand shops and other users. Assuming active C2C(consumer to consumer) transactions, we've developed a subscription model to reduce the burden of commission. The next business model is in-app advertising.

The initial investment for the business is $34 thousand over six months. After these six months, we assume that if monthly retention is 80% and 5% for User growth, we can get 5 thousand 276 active users at 10month.
In summary, investing six months for the initial service development. After launching our service, an additional four months for traffic gathering, leads us to anticipate around $45 thousand dollar in operating profit starting from the tenth month. Also, we can expect a reduction in environmental pollution. Normally 700 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of clothing. If over5,000 people stopped consuming fast fashion, they could save about 37 million gallons of water each year.

Last but not least clothing production produces waste water, air pollution, and soil pollution. If over 5,000 people stopped consuming fast fashion, they could reduce about over 263 thousand of pollutants each year too.

So when we generate more profit, we can also have a positive impact on the planet.

To recap, our goal was to extend consumers’ wardrobe to minimize fashion consumption, and designed our solution ideas to deal with the target users’ pain points.

First of all, we strategically focused on pre-owned items, contemplating how to enhance the appeal of second-hand purchases to tackle the challenges associated with purchasing sustainable items with affordable cost and appealing design.

Also, we introduced the digital wardrobe and outfit suggestions to assist users seamlessly select items that coordinate well with their existing wardrobe, preventing underutilization.

For users who feel guilt about parting with items with minor damage, the accessible alteration service proved to be a well-loved solution.

Finally, we addressed the challenges in selling by providing the option to add details upon receiving offers, and tackled sizing concerns in online pre-owned purchases through the fit guide feature.