Stitch Fix is introducing new artificial intelligence (AI) tools as part of its broader push to improve styling and sustain its recent return to growth.
The online personal styling service detailed the latest updates in an Aug. 11 blog post from Matt Baer, the company’s CEO. The e-retailer is combining AI with its human stylists to “deliver the most personalized retail experience,” he said.
Stitch Fix ranks No. 76 in the Top 2000 Database. That’s Digital Commerce 360’s ranking of the largest online retailers in North America by their annual ecommerce sales. Digital Commerce 360 categorizes Stitch Fix as an Apparel & Accessories retailer. Additionally, Digital Commerce 360 estimates Stitch Fix’s online sales in 2025 will reach $1.15 billion.
Stitch Fix web sales by year
How Stitch Fix is using AI in its new features
One of Stitch Fix’s AI features, a conversational AI Style Assistant, is already live in Stitch Fix’s iOS app. Currently in beta, it engages clients in a dialogue and offers AI-generated outfit ideas to help them articulate their preferences, drawing on the company’s extensive client data, Baer said.
Another tool, personalized AI Style Visualization, lets select shoppers preview how they might look in recommended outfits and trending styles. Baer also pointed to other upgrades, including AI-assisted clothing design and a new platform for clients to message stylists directly. Stitch Fix is betting the features could deepen personalization and client engagement, which could in turn help drive conversion and reduce returns.
Helping customers articulate their style
The push into AI comes as Stitch Fix returned to revenue growth in its fiscal third quarter ended May 3, signaling momentum in a turnaround plan it launched more than two years ago.
During its Q3 earnings call, Baer said improvements to the client experience are framed around four focus areas:
- Enhancing client engagement features
- Deepening client-stylist relationships
- Introducing greater flexibility to the service
- Offering a stronger assortment with more fresh and new styles
The latest upgrades build on those areas.
Stitch Fix reported about 2.4 million active clients as of early May. Many of its clients “tell us one of their biggest challenges is putting their style needs into words,” Baer wrote in the blog.
The new AI Style Assistant is designed to bridge that gap. Available exclusively in the iOS app, it engages users in conversation and suggests outfits based on their preferences. It leverages each client’s “StyleFile,” which is a personalized profile built from quiz results and ongoing feedback, and adapts over time, “helping ensure each Fix delivers on the client’s individual needs,” Baer said.
In addition, the new personalized AI Style Visualization allows clients to preview outfits in a simulated experience.
“Powered by our proprietary data, Stylist expertise, and the latest advancements in GenAI, we are beginning to offer personalized style visualization, enabling clients to see themselves in a variety of outfit recommendations and trends,” Baer said.
For now, the try-on feature is limited to select users through Stylist Connect, a new beta experience that lets clients message stylists between “Fixes,” the company’s curated clothing shipments. Baer said the company expects to expand access to AI Style Visualization in the months ahead.
New options to connect for style feedback
Stylist Connect, now rolling out to all clients in the iOS app, lets them communicate with stylists for things like quick advice, fit questions, and help trying out trends, Baer said.
He noted that client feedback on the beta feature has been “nearly 100%” positive.
Stitch Fix is also integrating generative AI into the design and development of several private-label brands, giving the company the ability “to spot and respond to trend signals more quickly and accelerate how we bring styles to clients,” Baer wrote.
The first designs using the technology are expected in the coming months, he added.
The company is also expanding its third-party assortment with both established and emerging names. Recent additions include Birkenstock, Varley, Favorite Daughter, Melin Hats, and Abercrombie Kids, he said, with more expected soon.
The final new feature, Family Accounts, allows clients to style a partner or anyone else in their household from a single account, Baer said.
These upgrades build on other recent launches, including the option to build a Fix around an item discovered in Freestyle, the company’s curated ecommerce shop, as well as themed Fixes and larger Fixes, he noted.
Larger Fixes helping drive revenue growth
Larger Fixes — which now allow up to eight items instead of five — have directly contributed to growth in the company’s average order value, Baer told analysts on the Q3 earnings call.
AOV has increased for seven consecutive quarters, he said. During Q3, revenue per active client reached $542, up 3.2% year over year, and 1% quarter over quarter.
Executives said this was a key driver in pushing Q3 net revenue to $325.0 million, an increase of 0.7% from a year ago and 4.1% from the prior quarter. The performance marked Stitch Fix’s first year-over-year revenue gain in 12 quarters.
That growth came even as Stitch Fix’s active client count declined to 2.35 million in Q3, down 18,000 from the prior quarter and 280,000, or 10.6%, year over year.
In Q4, Stitch Fix expects to post revenue between $298 million and $303 million, representing 0.0% to 1.7% growth when adjusted to a comparable 13-week period. The full results for the quarter ended Aug. 2 are due out Sept. 23.
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