Mon Purse improves its user experience
Mass customisation startup Mon Purse has launched a new version of its 3D online bag builder, giving customers a better idea of what their bag will look like in real life, improving the user experience on touchscreen devices and enabling the customisation of more products.
The tool uses PBR, a new modelling method from the gaming world, to accurately represent colour and leather textures online. Customers can now also use instinctive touchscreen gestures – such as pinching and double-tapping – to operate the bag builder on tablets and smartphones.
“As our product range has evolved and as the [customisation] options that we provide have evolved, it was necessary for us to build a user experience that gives our customers more control,” Mon Purse’s head of e-commerce and digital James Hopkins said.
“Most importantly, [this update] allows for a more realistic render of the bag as it’s being built […] so that the product customers design on their screen is the most accurate representation of what they’re going to receive.”
This is the third or fourth iteration of the 3D online bag builder, according to Hopkins. “We’ve got a full-time technology team and we’re going to continue evolving [the software]. This is key for us because it allows us to be at the forefront of the fashion tech industry.”
When Mon Purse launched in early 2015, it enabled customers to design bespoke handbags from scratch. Since then, the startup has also opened a bricks and mortar storefront in Sydney and a number of Myer concessions that offer on-site monogramming of pouches and other accessories. While these products could be personalised, they were not fully customisable through the bag builder. This will soon change.
“The vision within a few months is that every single product that you can buy on Mon Purse, you can create your own version of,” Hopkins said. “If you love our traditional black pouch but you want it in a colour we don’t have right here, right now, you can order that using the bag builder and 3D designer. In other words, you can create your own version of a product we do have, but in a colour [or type of leather] we don’t have in stock.”
The company is also introducing more options for monograms, so customers can choose from different letter fonts and sizes and a range of icons.
Besides updating its bag builder technology, Mon Purse is also tapping into the rise of social commerce, with the quiet launch of a shoppable Instagram feed on the website earlier this week. User-generated content featuring Mon Purse products will become a more prominent part of the company’s e-commerce offering in future, according to Hopkins.
These changes are the result of the AUD $3.1 million the startup secured in its June 2016 series A capital raise, which saw Catch of the Day founders Gabby and Hezi Leibovich join a handful of Australian and international high net worth individuals as investors.
The investment is also intended to help Mon Purse launch in the US market later this year under a collaboration with fellow Australian and soon-to-be Editor in Chief of Instyle USA Laura Brown. Brown will be designing a capsule range of bags that will become permanent customisable options on the site.
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