Fashion startups are dabbling with style and technology in equal measure to enhance customers’ shopping experiences like never before. They are constantly working on driving customer satisfaction. Though online shopping has made things very easy, but sometimes a shopper just wants to visit an actual store as the ‘in-store’ experience matters. Thanks to the ever evolving technology, we now have the means and ways to improve this experience. Akshay Taneja, Founder, Rent A Closet in this article shares more on how with upgraded technology, Rent A Closet has been bridging the gap between in-store and online shopping and thus making it more enjoyable for today's customer:

Akshay shares, “Keeping the customer and technology in mind, Rent A Closet  is a fashion company powered by a transformative business model, proprietary technology and a unique reverse-logistics operation. We are in a position to challenge old systems and rewrite new rules. By giving people access to remarkable luxury experiences, our vision is to change the meaning of ownership and revolutionizing retail in the process. By rethinking the same, Rent A Closet is championing a new model and reinventing retail to be smarter and more in line with how we actually live our lives. We believe that a beautiful product shouldn’t only be experienced by owning it!”

He adds, “We have amalgamated creative ideas and extravagant fashion choices, where two unique services are provided under one platform i.e. Buy and Rent. The idea behind introducing this concept is to provide heaps of women the knack to rent or buy designer dresses, accessories and other essentials for a fraction of the retail price, allowing them to look, and more prominently, feel beautiful for all of their special occasions. In addition to it, we are constantly signing new designers to expand our ever-growing roster. To give access to remarkable luxury experiences, my team is building exclusive relationships with India’s premier designers, to ensure that our customers have  the most beautiful and in-demand items for every season. There’s a seemingly endless variety of everything- ethnic wear, cocktail dresses, sparkly jewelry and even ‘Cinderella’ dresses, although the majority of the collection goes to the Indian market and all the top designer’s label like Varun Bahl, Manish Arora, Shantanu and Nikhil, Rimple and Harpreet Narula, Ritu Kumar, Anju Modi, Anaika, Manish Malhotra, Anamika Khanna, Preeti S Kapoor, Amethyst, Sabyasachi, Ridhima Bhasin are going to be seen as mainstream in the selection. Our concept is quite easy! Rent a dress of your choice for a few days, wear it, and then return or you can buy from our pret-a-porters.”

“In December 2016, we launched our first offline store at Epicuria, Nehru Place, New Delhi where you can virtually touch, feel and select from a number of designer wears. In fact, we are the standalone store which offers  buying as well as renting service in the town. We offer free trials at our store for the outfits Though we have recently launched, we are growing rapidly and we are on a road map to attain operational profitability in three months to come.  We have iPad stations in our stores where customers can log in online and see the made to wear outfits and latest collections by designers and order as per their size. We are also introducing more features online to our website and mobile applications where customers can book their trial in store online and book appointments online,” adds Akshay.

Thus, our aim is to bring forth a splendid online shopping extravaganza, luxury goods at an excellent price where you have the option of endless browsing through designer labels by the top designers in the country! After all, a happy customer is always good for retailers!