Royal Mail has enhanced its position in the mobile technology market by purchasing a stake in Mallzee, a personal shopping app that displays over two million items of clothing from more than 100 fashion brands.
Mallzee connects consumers directly with retailers to complete their purchases while providing information on the latest trends, celebrity-inspired fashion picks and other editorial content. The unique feature of Mallzee is the rating function, which enables shoppers to give their opinion with a simple left or right swipe. These ratings build a digital profile of an individual’s fashion preferences that are then used to create a personalized style feed with recommendations on future fashion items.
The app’s founder, Cally Russell, appeared on the BBC television show Dragons’ Den in February 2015, where he received an offer of £75,000 (US$117,150) from entrepreneur Peter Jones for a 20% stake in the business. Russell refused the offer and has since gone on to secure funding from Samsung and various other private investors. Royal Mail recently purchased an undisclosed percentage of shares after the business began looking to raise £2.5m (US$4m) in capital.
Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said, “I’m delighted to announce our investment in Mallzee. We think we can rapidly add significant value to the Mallzee business by introducing their solution to a wider audience, while the entrepreneurial and cutting-edge mobile capabilities that Mallzee have developed will complement our existing distribution services.”
July 22, 2015
