For the past year, investor and serial entrepreneur David Tisch has been working with his brother Alan to build an enjoyable way to shop on mobile. Today, that fruits of that labor springs onto the scene.
Ladies and gentlemen, behold Spring, the most advanced effort at fashion-focused mobile shopping yet.
For all intents and purposes, you could absolutely call spring an Instagram for shopping.
But it goes beyond just that to incorporate pieces of a few other favorite apps, including Uber and Tinder.
When first signing on to the app, it looks like Instagram dressed up in white. You're given the opportunity to “follow” brands that you like, and simply scroll through the feed to love items or to buy.
When you find an item you want, you can scroll through multiple images Tinder-style, with a description and a price all displayed on the main feed. If you're still interested, you simply click the buy button and choose your size.
Upon your first purchase, Spring will ask for your address and credit card info, and from that moment your payment details are saved within the app.
For that purchase and every purchase after that, it takes one simple motion to complete the purchase, a swipe. Interestingly enough, Amazon has a patent on single-click buying, so the swipe gets around that in a way that lets form follow the function of the app.
I myself have slid that little buy bar back and forth a few times before fully committing to a purchase, which seems like relatively standard behavior while shopping.
Folks have been talking about building a universal shopping cart for a long time, but big fashion and retail brands want to control every part of their own experience.
Spring actually delivers on that promise of a universal shopping cart by offering a platform for brands, without forcing multiple competing vendors to dress up in the same uniform and ultimately lose a piece of their brand.
Read more: Spring, David Tisch's Latest Venture, Is Instagram For Shopping