smartzer
Smartzer is the new technology that allows you to shop directly from a video.

Smartzer: The new interactive tech that will transform the way you shop

Ever watched a video online and thought: “Where is that dress from?” or “Those shoes are nice, wonder how much they cost…” And spent longer than necessary looking for said items? Yeah, us too.

So, you’ll be pleased to know that an entrepreneur has answered one of our materialistic prayers with a new platform that allows you to click on clothes and accessories in a video and, well, shop them.

It’s called Smartzer. You should definitely get on board with this new video technology; all you have to do is click on an item within a video to see its information and purchasing links. It’s that simple, and probably slightly addictive.

How did it begin? Well, Smartzer was founded in 2012 and is the project behind Karoline Gross, a med school graduate from Kings College London who turned herself into a successful entrepreneur.

Karoline, 29, hails from Estonia but moved to London a decade ago to study science - an important subject in her family - but for Gross it was a little bit of a bore.

So to fill in her time and earn some money, she took on part-time work at Harry Potter Studios, and - pardon the awful joke but - you could say the place waved a magic wand or two in the making of Karoline’s success.

Not to be overdramatic, but if it wasn’t for Harry Potter, her life could have been very different: “[This is] where I got really interested in production and then ended up leaving, moving to the USA, studying film and setting up a production company!”

Naturally, this wasn’t an overnight decision… And moving to the other side of the world can obviously be daunting. But for Karoline, this was very much the making of her business.

And despite quickly moving back to London, she arrived once more with a mind full of fresh ideas - one being her successful and innovative platform, Smartzer.

“I got the idea and tried to start it over there [in the USA], but decided to move back to London where I started a tech entrepreneurship. I studied this at University College London.”

What initially started as a “shoppable Netflix app” - Netflix and shopping sounds good, no? - soon progressed into a completely web-based platform, which Karoline sadly believes was down to simply not having the funds for her original idea.

But she decided not to be swayed by money issues, and largely funded the project herself in the beginning. Then a developer came along on an equity basis as well as angel investors helping her to raise £600k for Smartzer to take off.

“It was a group of 21 investors; some have had several businesses and others work in banking.”

In terms of progression for the business, Karoline has seen a huge change in social media over the years and this has changed how Smartzer works: “When we started, people were putting videos on YouTube but everything is now on Instagram, Snapchat.”

It’s a given that social media can be detrimental to our wellbeing, but when it comes to building a business it really is second nature these days - Karoline praises it as being one of the ways in which she was able to market her product.

“Every video is now short and on phones. It’s interesting how channels and content have changed. Brands being able to produce more content with a lot less money, being able to distribute it much better.”

So how does Smartzer work? It’s not an app, if you’re wondering. But it is interactive and works online, allowing users to shop an outfit or simple accessory in a video, thus enabling e-commerce businesses to generate sales and understand what their customers like.

Brands can track analytics while consumers click on desired items within a video to see the information with purchase links. This has been a great success at major events like London Fashion Week, to simpler situations such as lounging on your sofa and scrolling through Instagram.

Smartzer has worked with many brands including high-end Burberry making its catwalk shows accessible, to high-street companies like Simply Be, so it caters for a lot of people.

Gross added: “When someone watches a video, there are two ways [to shop]. Either you can click on items and it doesn’t interrupt the video, or there’s a small interaction that says you can click on something.

“Then when someone clicks, it pauses the video and it pulls up the image of the look and all you can shop from it. Product name, price…”

It’s a simple technique, but one that could significantly change how users shop and consume fashion content. Head to Smartzer and see how it works, then tweet @BdailyLondon and tell us what you think!

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