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MendIt App

Overview

MendIt was founded on the premise that the textile industry was on a wasteful path that was harmful to the environment and that people did not want to or need to keep investing in the "fast fashion" concept. 

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In this case study we'll attempt to validate those assumptions and explore our strategy to develop a technological ecosystem that:

  • Helps connect customers to businesses offering clothing repair services.

  • Business connect with more customers to provide services.

  • Business to business solutions that help divert textile waste from ending up in the landfill.

  • Donations and charitable solutions to reduce waste and increase environmental sustainability efforts

  • New and unique ideas that may help solve these problems in unique ways

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We'll start with the MendIt App available for download on iOS and Android.

Note: The case study is broken down into several sections. If any part of the case study is of particular interest, use the menu on the right to go directly to that section of the page. Thank you!

Hypotheses

Several ideas and insights into the textile industry resulted in several hypotheses to test:

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  • If people knew they could quickly and easily repair their clothing, then they would stop buying new clothes as often to replace damaged clothing.

  • If people knew they could donate clothing and get something in return, then they would donate the damaged or old clothing instead of throwing it in the garbage.

  • If businesses knew they could sell returned and damaged clothing they could solve their warehousing issues and recoup some of their investment in the process.

  • If businesses knew they had cheaper and potentially profitable options to resell returned and overflow clothing instead of throwing them away, they would take advantage of those opportunities.

My Role

I was the head of product at MendIt. In partnership with my co-founders my role was to

  • Devise the product strategy.

  • Develop the MendIt mobile app and go to market.

  • Define and execute the launch of additional products and solutions in our product portfolio strategy.

  • Forge partnerships with like minded businesses, vendors and customers.

  • and more...

 

My goal was to help take MendIt from zero to launch (0-1) and help scale the businesses introducing new products and verticals as our market evolved (1-n) to help put MendIt at the forefront of disruptive change in the textile industry.

Market Analysis

As a small bootstrapped startup, MendIt needed low-cost solutions for market and customer research.

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Surveys were conducted using Mechanical Turk and Google Forms to gather data quickly. The team talked to various local businesses to gain insights. Google search and networking helped identify competitors. The team also directly spoke with potential and existing customers to get additional feedback.

Customer Interviews

​Research Conducted

  • Engaged with designers, retailers, brands, tailors, laundromats...etc.

  • Conducted interviews with potential customers and later on existing customers,

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Methodology

  • Acquire and increase industry knowledge, challenges and opportunities,

  • Determine what type of competition existed and where to find it,

  • Gain as much insight into market trends and market needs as possible,

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Results

  • Most businesses were struggling with returns costs,

  • Most customers were unaware repairs were an option and how to care for clothing,

  • Repair services were not considered valuable enough to offer by the textile industry.

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Customer Interviews

Surveys

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Surveys

​Research Conducted

  • Surveys were drafted in Google Forms and Mechanical Turk.

  • Distribution through online survey service companies MT included with large respondent pools.

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Methodology

  • Gather as broad a market sampling as possible as cheaply and quickly as possible.

  • Utilize online services and apps for distribution and data collection.

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Results

  • Over 1500 responses to our surveys were collected.

  • The large sampling helped us understand key metrics regarding our target market.

  • Target market identified and segmented.

Visualization Of Survey Results

Market Segmentation

Note: For the purpose of this case study, we will focus on the data pertaining to the clothing repair market as a point of reference.

 

Based on the research data, it was determined that the target market has the following demographics:

Primary Markets

  • Urban and Suburban Areas: Focus marketing efforts here, especially in major metropolitan areas where repair services are in high demand.

  • Females aged 25-40 with household sizes of 1-4: Target this demographic for marketing campaigns, as they are likely to utilize repair services.

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Behavioral Insights

  • Convenience and Cost-Effectiveness: Highlight the ease and affordability of using MendIt for clothing repairs.

  • Environmental Benefits: Emphasize sustainability and the circular economy to appeal to eco-conscious consumers.

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Key Points

  • Focus on urban and suburban demographics with significant potential for growth in repair services.

  • Target marketing efforts towards younger, eco-conscious consumers who value sustainability.

  • Leverage convenience and affordability as key selling points to attract a broader audience.

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Competitive Analysis

Several potential competitors were identified that at least competed with MendIt regarding the clothing repair solution.

 

Notably, at this point in our business development, we had already progressed to planning for introducing several potential market solutions for various market problems we've identified.

 

References to those will be in the chart below and outlined later in the case study.

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Customers

Customers in this market are urban eco-conscious young professionals and suburban families. They value sustainability, convenience, and affordability, and prefer tech-enabled solutions like MendIt's app-based services for their clothing repair needs.

Customer Insights

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Family-Oriented Practicality

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Suburban families seek convenient and affordable repair options for household clothing needs.

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Eco-Conscious Values

 

Urban young professionals prioritize sustainability, preferring repair services over disposal.

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Tech-Savvy and Informed

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Both segments prefer easy-to-access, tech-enabled solutions like MendIt's app-based services.

Customer Personas

Several ideal customer personas were created to be the focus of the repair app. Additional personas to help guide product development for the other portfolio products were added later on. Examples of the repair app personas:

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Customer Journey

Understanding the ideal customers further, customer journey maps were drafted and used to help guide the app design and marketing efforts.

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Customer Empathy

Taking it one step further a customer empathy map was also created to help get into the mindset of potential customers. Example:

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Key Takeaways

The Problem

Fast Fashion is very wasteful and pushes seasonal change and due to its convenience, the market is sold on the idea that it is better to just buy clothing and throw it away instead of caring for it and repairing it to extend it's life, help the environment and their own wallets. 

Market Insights

Research based on this premise indicated several important key insights that validated some of the assumptions but also modified others giving us a better picture of whether or not the problem could benefit from a new type of solution:​

  • Interest in Clothing Repair: Strong demand driven by eco-conscious values and a desire to reduce waste.

  • Eco-Friendly Prioritization: Urban young professionals highly value sustainability; suburban families are open to eco-friendly solutions.

  • Need for Convenience: It is difficult to access affordable and convenient repair options.

  • Pain Points: Fast fashion is too convenient and there are a lack of options and trust issues with current repair services.

  • Opportunity: Significant market potential for a seamless, app-based solution offering reliable, affordable, and accessible clothing repair services.

The Goal

Based on what we learned, we determined that there could be a big benefit from a fast, easy, app based solution to clothing repair that provides a "done for you" system to getting your clothing repaired.

Product Strategy

We Identified the market for clothing repair as our primary vertical to go to market with. 

 

There were several other market opportunities we also decided to take advantage of. Several of these product solutions are summarized below and at the end of the case study.

Proposed Solutions

Starting with the consumer repair app, several solutions were added to the product portfolio such as Bulk Orders, B2B, eCommerce and others.

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Strategic Product Roadmap

Our goal was to prioritize getting to market with our repair app and then systematically enhance the product portfolio with product updates, new products and services that provide value to more individualized market niches that we identified in research as needing solutions we could provide. 

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This is an overview of our strategic product roadmap showing planned development and go to market timelines for multiple products in our portfolio over a 5 year period (Abridged).

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Flagship Product - MendIt App

Product development details will focus on the repair app process we went through from concept through launch (0-1), Post Launch updates and additional portfolio product information will be summarized toward the end.

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Pain Points

Research identified several key pain points faced by our target market when it comes to clothing repair services:.

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User Stories

Creating an app that can solve for the challenges this market faces and create a good market fit required that we understand what the feedback, survey data, pain points and other information all means. A series of user stories to help guide the app design and make sure we were designing an app that could meet our north star metrics and make getting clothing repair easy to do, convenient, reliable and deliver quality. Several examples are as follows:

As an eco-conscious user, I want the app to prioritize and highlight eco-friendly repair options so that I can make sustainable choices and reduce my environmental impact.

  • Ask "menders" what eco-friendly products, services and solutions they offer

  • The app design should display eco-friendly products, services and solutions the "mender" offers to customers

  • Badges for eco-friendly "menders" to make them more recognizable

  • "Environmental Support" donation option could be added at checkout for charitable donations

  • Offer an option to select a more eco-friendly transportation option to customer such as eco-friendly delivery service and local options for repair

As a busy professional, I want to schedule clothing pickups and deliveries through the app so that I can save time and avoid the inconvenience of visiting repair shops.

  • Integrated calendar for scheduling pickups and deliveries

  • Real-time notifications and reminders

  • GPS and status tracking for orders

  • Flexible time slots and express service options

As a quality-focused customer, I want to see reviews and ratings of repair services so that I can choose a reliable and trustworthy provider.

  • Customer reviews and star ratings for each provider

  • Detailed feedback on specific repair jobs

  • Photos of previous work done by providers

  • Ability to follow and favorite top-rated repair services

As a cost-conscious user, I want to get transparent pricing estimates before booking a repair service so that I can make informed decisions within my budget.

  • Instant price estimates based on repair type

  • Cost comparison between multiple providers

  • Detailed breakdown of pricing components

  • Discount codes and promotional offers

As a customer seeking convenience, I want to track the status of my clothing repairs in real-time through the app so that I am kept informed and reassured about the process.

  • Real-time repair status updates

  • Progress bar showing stages of repair

  • Push notifications for important updates

  • In-app messaging with repair service for questions and clarifications

Feature Prioritization

With just the 5 example user story examples listed above, we already had 20+ features we could put into the app. We needed to prioritize the features and focus on what we could do given the amount of time, money and resources available to us as a bootstrapped startup.

 

We broke things down into a feature priority list (not shown) and a prioritization board to help decide what features are required and which ones would provide the most value to our customers that would create a strong MVP and launch. The abridged version of the board is as follows:

Risks and Rewards

As a small bootstrapped startup attempting to disrupt an entire industry, we wanted to understand the risks of doing what we were trying to do and how do we mitigate those risks? Consider the following sample of risks we identified.

The MVP doesn’t include entire scope of priority features.

  • The MVP will only be capable of placing orders and optimizing for up to 2-3 items in an order with no shipping options, local drop off/pick up only.

  • Until functionality can be added, messaging needs to be clear, and the pilot launch focus needs to be in market areas where local options are abundant.

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Low market adoption due to lack of awareness or resistance to change.

  • Implement strong marketing campaigns focusing on educating potential users about the benefits of repair over replacement.

  • Work with local businesses and partners to help drive adoption and education.

  • Emphasize sustainability and cost savings.

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Inconsistent repair quality from different providers.

  • Develop a vetting process for repair providers, including certifications and regular quality checks.

  • Implement a robust review process and user rating system to help maintain high standards.

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Technical issues with app performance, user experience and quality control/conflict resolution.

  • Regular updates and thorough testing to ensure smooth app performance.

  • Offer responsive customer support to quickly address any issues customers may encounter.

  • Assign success associates responsible for assisting “menders” with challenges.

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Compliance with changing environmental regulations and laws regarding textile waste.

  • Stay informed about relevant regulations and ensure all aspects of the service comply with the law.

  • Be a resource for “menders”, retailers, brands, and textile manufacturers in staying ahead of regulatory changes.

  • Promote adoption of pending regulatory changes early, provide assistance and new solutions to existing or upcoming challenges textile industry businesses face.

MVP Product Design

These were a couple of the questions considered with our app design.

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For instance:

  • Build an app vs website?

  • Additionally is it a native or web app?

  • How to we make the process of placing an order as easy to follow as possible?

  • How does a customer show the potential "mender" what the problem is?

  • and more...

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Screenshots from our MVP app

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Screenshot 1 - Order Screen 

Asks the customer a few simple questions about the repair that they can easily understand such as big or small fix, adult or child size. This allowed MendIt to get enough information to properly set a price for a repair order.

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Screenshot 2 - Photo Screen

Allows the customer to take or upload a photo of the problem for MendIt and or the "mender" to see the clothing and the repair that might be needed in case an order adjustment is required before work begins.

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Screenshot 3 - Drop-off / Shipping screen (updated post MVP)

The customer can choose to handle drop off and pickup themselves or just ship it, Additional options include the state they are in for more localized shipping options to help reduce the carbon footprint of shipping.

What do we do with what we learned?

What kind of product would be most valuable to our market?

Go To Market Strategy

MendIt's business model is a technology based solution to brick and mortar challenges local businesses have. The Go To Market strategy included a small launch in a local market as part of the initial testing phase before expanding to additional markets. An overview of the pilot and expansion strategies are as follows:

Pilot Market

Two MendIt team members resided in the Houston Texas market. That allowed MendIt to launch the pilot with the least amount of effort and cost while allowing an in person response to any challenges that arose.

  • Pre-sell new "menders" to work with us and help build out the local Houston "mender" network.

  • Get the "menders" added to the app before launch so potential customers had options

  • Soft launch and test a sub market of Houston where the new "menders" were located

  • Use customer and "mender" feedback and reports to update the app, our processes and systems to properly support the full Houston market

  • Expand to all of Houston and continue enhancing our product based on full market feedback.

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Market Expansion Strategy

Expansion out of our pilot market required us to develop more infrastructure, partnerships, product updates systems and processes to handle increased business potential. Additionally we ran lean in terms of team size meaning we needed to control our expansion in a way would allow us to scale without taking too much risk.

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Phase 1

  • Expand to other Texas cities such as Dallas / Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio.

  • All in driving distance of some of our team members in case of emergency.

  • Add new functionality to app to support shipping and delivery partners, GEOIP fencing, regional discounts/promotions, general app improvements...etc.

  • Expand partnerships and "mender" support, introduce coming soon sign ups for new partners and "menders".

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Phase 2

  • Expand to 10+ major cities in the USA.

  • Test and validate shipping options.

  • Monitor and update the app, tools, systems and processes as needed to support a growing customer base and market

  • Add more partners and "menders" to increase our network.

  • Introduce more products and services to support our customers, "menders", partners and begin opening new market niches.

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Phase 3+

  • Full North America expansion.

  • New products and services.

  • Pursue new business verticals and opportunities.​

  • Global expansion.

  • Pursue new business verticals and opportunities.

Success Metrics (North Star)

To determine success, we setup passthrough gates in the expansion strategy (abridged version):

  • Enter full Houston market pilot

    • Successfully fulfill 5 orders and add 3 menders

  • Enter Phase 1

    • Monthly recurring revenue of $100, add 5 menders into the network

  • Enter Phase 2

    • $          recurring monthly revenue

    • Shipping capability added

    • Bulk order/B2B program launched

    • Nationwide mender network established

  • Enter Phase 3

    • ...etc.

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Unfortunately I do not have permission to share in depth details of our success metrics or results, but I didn't want to finish the case study without mentioning it to a degree. 

Accolades

MendIt App

Accolades resulting from our on the MendIt Repair App and business partnerships we've built

As of January 2024

Additional Products 

Most of this case study was centered around MendIt's repair app, however MendIt released and was working on other products and services in the portfolio to serve several niche sub markets and the textile industry as a whole. A few are summarized below:

Bulk Order and B2B Program

Customers made several requests for support for bulk orders as the repair app was not designed to handle such large quantities of repairs in a single order. Those customers most often were small businesses and resellers requesting repairs 25-100 items and needed a different ordering process. The MVP version of this program was design using a Google Form and Google to place the order, MendIt would review the order directly with these customers and run through the normal process of handling orders from there. 

Next steps for this service product are pending however as of the time I exited MendIt, designs were drafted to integrate this program directly into the MendIt product suite and repair app after a pending full website and app redesign project completes. 

Other Products

We also developed and or designed numerous other products int he product portfolio that are currently confidential. I will add them later when it is acceptable for me to share them. 

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