David and Alan Tisch raise $25M for their mobile shopping app Spring

Today, brothers David and Alan Tisch announced that they’ve raised $25 million in investor funding for their mobile shopping app Spring. The app is also now available on Android phones.

The cash will be used to expand the app’s reach internationally.

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Spring, which launched last year, features a curated selection of men’s and women’s apparel, jewelry, and beauty products from over 750 brands. Alan Tisch says that by this summer the company will be adding another 250 brands for a total of 500,000 products. These range from high-end designers like Carolina Herrera and Oscar de la Renta to Levi’s and American Apparel. Spring also recently added Calvin Klein to its growing list.

The app has a feed of products that looks similar to Instagram’s stream of user photos. Shoppers can stick to their customized feed or check out a curated list of new items and trends through the “discover” tab. There’s also a way to “browse” the app for something specific or look up all items from a given brand within the “brands” tab.

To make a purchase, users click on an item. The iOS app then gives you the option to pay with Apple Pay or a credit card, while the Android version offers Google Wallet. The process is as simple as Amazon’s one-click checkout.

“What we’ve learned is that brands are not technology companies,” said Alan Tisch. Alan and David Tisch worked directly with brands to achieve the seamless checkout that the app offers. It also allows brands to maintain their branding.

In addition to being mindful of brands, the app is also designed with consumer shopping behaviors in mind.

“Shopping is a very weird behavior, and I think that we’ve learned that people shop in different ways,” said Alan. For example, he says, some people pop into Spring for 5 or 10 minutes a day and just browse. Other people shop
once a month and go on a shopping spree.

“You want to provide something rich and engaging for that person who comes from 5 to 10 minutes a day, but also still provide something relevant for that person who shops once a month,” he said.

There are only a handful of universal shopping carts on the market. Keep, for example, has a feature it calls the OneCart that allows users to check out all the items they’ve shopped for in-app in a single process. Rather than partnering with brands, Keep makes the purchases directly with a retailer or brand on your behalf and then handles shipping.

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Other apps, like ShopStyle and Polyvore, will provide users with a curated stream of products, but when it comes time to check out, redirect you to a brand or retailer site to make your purchases — a far-from-refined experience.

Alan said brand partnerships are a key component of the Spring experience, which is why the company’s international expansion plans aren’t yet firm. He says going forward the company will be strengthening relationships with brands overseas for an eventual roll-out abroad.

In the meantime, Alan said Spring plans to launch a web app soon and is playing with ways to enable faster shipping.

To date Spring has raised $32.5 million. This round was led by BoxGroup, with contributions from Yuri Millner, Groupe Arnault, Google Ventures, and Thrive Capital.

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