New York Threads

September 26, 2011

Boutiques.com

Google announced in a blog this Thursday that it plans to ditch its online shopping site, Boutiques.com, just one month shy of its first birthday. Users will be notified by email how to save their data before the site closes October 14^th. The search-engine giant is not abandoning the marriage between high-tech and high-fashion, however: they will apply Boutiques’s visual search technology to Google’s product search page.

A result of Google’s $100 million acquisition of Like.com (the pioneer of visual searching), Boutiques.com intended to customize the shopping experience by using Like’s specialized algorithms that search by pattern, shape and color palette—distinguishing cobalt blue from turquoise—instead of by keywords.

With the hope to reach out to the niche, mysterious world of fashionistas; Boutiques.com also allowed users to create a customizable boutique to showcase their personal style. Celebrities were even brought on board: Mary-Kate Olsen and Julia Stiles had their own boutiques.

Despite a decent recipe for success, YM Ousley of Signature9 said the site’s traffic dropped by 94% only six months after its launch, according to Google Ad Planner.

One of the many users who deserted Boutiques.com tweeted:

 @KPFUSIONKimmie

Does anyone use still Boutiques.com? I started an account in the beginning but there were so many bugs I haven’t used it in months.

Britt Aboutales, of Elle.com, identified one of those bugs as a problem with currency conversion. Boutiques.com didn’t convert pounds to dollars on a pair of designer heels, creating a price discrepancy of over $400.

Pascal-Eammanuel Gobry, of Business Insider, dismisses the site as a ‘trainwreck’:

 Boutiques.com had everything to succeed. It not only had Google’s weight and talent behind it, but it recruited plenty of influential fashion bloggers to start boutiques on the site and had a launch party with A-list celebrities. So what happened?

Macala Wright, of Fashionably Marketing Me, weighed Boutiques.com’s pros and cons. She criticized the site for its bland design, limited social sharing features, and overdone concept; but her biggest issue with Google’s endeavor was greed:

Google is benefiting from the people who take the time to set up a boutique or click on the links to buy through Boutiques.com. Fashion lovers are curating collections for them and receiving a link to their website (if they have one) tucked quietly into their little boutique.  We would have felt more supportive about Google’s venture if they took an Amazon or ShopStyle approach. The former allows you to set up your own shop through Amazon and offers a commission on each sale you make.

Cathy Horyn of The New York Times reported that ecommerce experts gave the site an A-plus, but with a few reservations:  

 As curated as it is, a lot still comes up in a search. Suggesting that too much information may be a turnoff to inexperienced Web shoppers…It’s going to take some getting used to, that’s for sure…I feel it’s an amazing site, but there are a few aspects that are not very intuitive. Some people might go back to the regular Google search and look for their boots.

Munjal Shal, Google Product Management Director, jokingly described Boutiques.com’s mixed team of Ph.D.s and fashion experts in a blog last November as computer nerds and fashion nerds (and a few of us were both). 

However, as Ogilvy Digital (a global digital PR firm) suggests in a tweet, perhaps not enough were both.

@ogilvydigitalOgilvy Digital

Sometimes geeks fall out of fashion. Google to shutter Boutiques.com. cot.ag/qaCI9W #Google #Fashion