Rifling through a digital pile of clothes every time you enter an online fashion store can be hard work. Chris Morton proposes a better way of doing it
Chris Morton launched Lyst in 2010 with the vision of revolutionising the way we buy things. Focusing specifically on fashion, the service allows users to follow bloggers, brands or simply other users who share their tastes. From this personalised list of fashion products, users are presented with a carefully curated selection of items geared towards their personal preferences – and immediately saved the effort of rifling through dozens of pieces they don’t like. “Instead of finding something you love every 200 products, you find something you love every 10 or five,” explains Morton.

Morton describes the idea at the heart of Lyst as “a way to leverage all the awesome things the web can do to create a better shopping experience.” Cyberspace’s ability to connect us to the previously unknown, to record and interpret the tiniest pieces of information around our interests and buying habits, and to tap into retailers and suppliers instantly, certainly suggests a wealth of untapped retail potential.

As far as Morton is concerned, the primary objective is for Lyst to be unparalleled in its ability to tailor itself to each individual user. “Why shouldn't people be able to shop at a site that is just filled with things they like?” he asks. “They have a sense of style, they follow certain trends –why could we not use this information to build that bespoke shopping site?” And this is something Lyst does very well. The company has just set up offices in the enormous Hoxton Square space in East London that formerly housed the White Cube gallery, a move that is anything but timid. “It’s very clear that our model is working,” says Morton. “We’re now closing in on a hundred million dollars worth of sales.” Why shouldn't people be able to shop at a site that is just filled with things they like? Why is it that Lyst succeeds where other online recommendation services have failed? The key, says Morton, is effective data: specifically, data which is not just effective because it is collected in quantity, but because of the way it’s used. “Items for sale are dynamically changing every second. For instance, for a shirt, I need to know what price it is, if it’s black, if it’s long sleeve. I need to know the brand. I need to know what different sizes are in stock, what’s left. If you're trying to create a shopping experience, it is vital to have that data there.” It’s this commitment to data that elevates Lyst from being a fashion-only Pinterest imitator to a fully functional, entirely fresh retail experience.
Asked how he thinks the retail industry as a whole will advance in the wake of developments such as Lyst, Morton says he has a vision that everyone will shop in a store that’s totally customised to them. How will offline retail deal with the rise in its online counterpart? “It’s interesting,” he muses. “These worlds are converging. I think the same things that are happening online will happen offline.” Services like Lyst are a vital piece of that puzzle. “These worlds are blurred,” says Morton. “Multichannel retailers with online and offline pieces are increasingly obsessing about how they can deliver a unified experience. It’s not about m-commerce and e-commerce and Facebook commerce and real-world commerce – it’s just commerce.”