At this busy point in the semester, there’s no time to spend wandering around the Nittany Mall for a formal dress or a new pair of jeans. The popular shopping app Dote knows this and is aiming to be a one-stop shop for digital savvy fashion lovers.
Dote is a free mobile app that allows users to shop popular brands like Urban Outfitters, Brandy Melville and ASOS all at once. After adding products from multiple stores, Dote users can make one total purchase from as many stores as they’d like. Dote handles the separate orders and details like tax and shipping costs. Rather than bouncing between tabs as you online shop and struggling to balance orders, you can leave the intricacies to Dote.
Dote also appeals to young users by incorporating a social aspect into the online shopping experience. The app has fun features like polls, quizzes and videos. Another aspect of the app allows users to make lists of their favorite items to share with their friends. Rather than the typical impulsive and private experience of online shopping, Dote makes the experience interactive.
Aside from the convenient shopping it offers, Dote is making a big name for itself by using influencer-based marketing. Dote sponsors prominent users, called Dote Girls, who share outfits and promote the app on social media. Dote Girls can tag Dote’s Instagram username in their pictures, which immediately directs users to the product on the app. Emma Chamberlain, Hannah Meloche and Brooke Hyland are three of the apps Dote Girl influencers, among many others.
Being a Dote Girl comes with perks beyond quick online shopping. As a marketing strategy, Dote sends its influencers on extravagant trips to places like Fiji, San Francisco, Disney World and Lake Tahoe. They’ve also sent a squad to Coachella for two years in a row. Tagging Dote in your selfies comes with serious perks.
Dote was launched back in 2014 and is already becoming a fashion app staple. The average user spends 40 minutes a day browsing the app, according to an article on Fashionista. Ultimately, Dote’s goal is to create a fashion community that’s as much about the experience as it is the purchases. Just because Dote is an app on your phone with quizzes and games doesn’t mean it isn’t a force in the retail world.
Are you a part of Dote Nation? Tell VALLEY in the comments!
