The digital passport is coming to fashion — and if Jellybean has anything to say about, each individual piece of apparel sold will travel in style.
The European Union has already mandated that apparel sold in the market will soon have to have a passport detailing its environmental impact and lifecycle data, helping consumers know just what it is they bought.
Jellybean — a Toronto-based tech company that has worked in the toy industry to turn every product into a “gateway for personalized engagement” — is looking to help fashion brands use that passport mandate to connect directly with consumers.
Through a QR code or chip in each look, shoppers can scan or tap a Jellybean-enabled product to access a unique website that can include:
- Blockchain-anchored certificates to authenticate products.
- Information on current prices in the resale market.
- Personalized product recommendations.
- Brand-controlled content hubs.
- And the digital product passport information, including traceability and sustainability data as well as lifecycle information.
Jellybean is just starting to reach out to the fashion world with the help of VF Corp. veteran and former Vans chief Kevin Bailey, who’s serving as business development and strategy adviser, and Charlotte Clisby, who joined as vice president of business development for fashion and luxury.
“There’s no apps or anything to download,” Clisby said of the consumer experience with Jellybean. “It operates as a web page, but you can only access that web page through the product itself. So the product unlocks whatever is on your Jellybean portal and then what the user can access or engage with on that platform on that web page that they open up is up to the brand.”
Brands have long bemoaned that once they sell a product through a retailer, they lose part of their connection with that consumer.
This is a way to reestablish contact, pitch consumers another product and offer them new services — from a curated Spotify playlist to the ability to list the product directly on a resale site.
“You’re actually turning physical products into an opportunity to create personalized upselling opportunities for them,” Clisby said.
“What is your brand challenge right now and what are your aims for the year?” Clisby said. “Is it to grow your resale? Is it to grow your direct-to-consumer? Is it to be a bit more engaging and appeal to a younger consumer? And then whichever [Jellybean] modules we will select will be based on what you are trying to achieve as a business.”
To hear Bailey tell it, the digital passports have opened up a kind of new frontier that is still being settled.
“There are no standards, there are a lot of fragmented players doing different parts of this, whether it be the operational side or some sort of loyalty program side, but it’s not a holistic approach,” he said.
Jellybean is offering a broader take.
“It’s an opportunity for brands to simplify their connection to the consumer, whereas today you’re counting on a consumer going to your social media pages or the consumer going to your website or downloading the app for your loyalty program,” he said. “It’s very disjointed. Whereas what we believe Jellybean does is brands literally can just plug in these modules and move their content directly there to allow it all to be kind of a one-stop shop for a consumer.”
