Shopping Party

Shopping Party brings friends back together to try on clothes at home, making fashion fun, social, and sustainable while reducing returns and boosting brand loyalty.

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🚀 Inspiration The idea came while I was shopping with my daughter and her friends. They were excited to try on clothes together, but store staff only allowed one person per fitting room. They had to take turns, wait outside, and couldn’t really share the experience and they kept saying: "Why can’t we just try things on together?" At the same time, I was seeing how much waste online shopping generates due to returns. Shopping Party was born to fix both problems: making shopping fun and social again, while reducing returns and environmental impact.

🛍️ What it does Shopping Party is a social shopping platform where users create private or branded parties, invite friends, and try on clothes together in real life. Users pay a small deposit, receive selected clothes at home, try them on with friends, and finalize purchases later, reducing over-ordering and returns. Brands can create their own branded Shopping Parties and gain insights while improving loyalty.

🛠️ How we built it We started lean with a no-code MVP, then developed a React-based web app thanks to Bolt.new and the hackathon. The platform allows:

  • Cart sharing
  • Friend invitations
  • 10% deposit payment
  • Home delivery of selected items

Final purchase confirmation post-try-on We also built a B2B dashboard for brands with CSV upload and are working on API integrations (Shopify, Prestashop, Magento).

⚙️ Challenges we ran into

  • Convincing brands to run pilots without a full app
  • Managing logistics with real products while staying lean
  • Communicating the emotional/social side of shopping to investors
  • Balancing tech development with real-world testing

🏆 Accomplishments that we're proud of

  • 45 parties booked with only €700 ad spend
  • First 3 brand pilots in progress
  • Early data shows –35% return rate and +20% conversion uplift
  • Positive user feedback: high NPS and strong word of mouth
  • Lean team with strong advisors and a fully working MVP

📚 What we learned

  • GenZ and Millennial women deeply crave shared real-life experiences — especially in shopping
  • Try-before-you-buy is effective, but only if done socially
  • Returns aren't just a logistics issue, they're a confidence problem
  • Brands are willing to experiment if the user experience is strong

🔜 What's next for Shopping Party

  • Finalize Shopify and Stripe integrations
  • Close 3–5 additional brand pilots
  • Launch Squad Leader program to scale user-driven parties
  • Raise €80k to grow the team, automate logistics, and improve the B2B dashboard
  • Expand to new cities with local brand partners
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