Threads, a London-based luxury company that sells all of its goods through messaging apps, just raised $20m to expand its platform.
The startup, which doesn’t even have a website, is growing rapidly and pioneering a new type of ‘chat commerce’ that caters to consumers who spend more and more time on mobile devices.
Threads was created to provide busy luxury shoppers with a convenient and curated marketplace in the same place they’re already wasting time: messaging apps.
The style gurus behind Threads’ service recommend products from Dior and 250 other luxury brands to customers in conversation threads on Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, iMessage, and WeChat.
How much does the average shopper spend?
If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
Customers buy an average $3k worth of swag per shopping sesh, and the company makes commission from the products’ suppliers on every purse they pawn off.
Threads customers, 70% of whom are under 35, are already spread across more than 100 countries.
For now, Threads is mainly focused on fashion and jewelry (those sweet, sweet margins), but eventually, the company plans to get chatting across a wider variety of verticals now that it’s bagged another $20m.