The Stitch store is a retail space that brings together high tech and high touch in what the company calls “super-personalized shopping.” Founded in 2011 by Harvard Business School graduate Katrina Lake, the subscription-based service initially targeted women’s fashion. Now it offers men’s, plus sizes and maternity clothing.
The technology behind the personalization is artificial intelligence. It’s fed new data every day from customer responses to the Style Shuffle carousel (where customers can give thumbs up or down to a selection of items), written feedback and images shared on social media, Dhawan says. It can also make predictions about how a customer will shop, for example if they will buy more or less of a certain item.
While the algorithms are powerful, they’re only as good as the information fed to them. That’s why the Stitch team relies on a number of people in the back office to help them interpret what their models are telling them, especially when those predictions turn out to be incorrect. The company employs natural language processing, a branch of AI that makes it easier to interpret written feedback.
If you’re hoping to meet Stitch at Walt Disney World, your best bet is to book a character dining experience at ’Ohana at the Polynesian Resort or try to spot him on the Rocket Tower Plaza Stage during the Move It! Shake It! Dance and Play It! parade in Tomorrowland at Magic Kingdom. You can also find plenty of merchandise featuring the little alien at shops like Mickey’s Star Traders and Moana’s Mercantile in Magic Kingdom. the Stitch store
