I have to re-characterize my tortoise vs the hare description. I think that comparing Stitch Fix to software companies is completely unrealistic.
But if we compare Stitch Fix to retailers, to Nordstrom, to Macy’s, to Lululemon, to all the others, they will look like the hare.
In Aesop’s fable it’s the tortoise that wins the race…
https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/englis…
It depends on your lens.
Despite Aesop, I look at the Stock Price Races. Since going public they have been hare like!
http://softwaretimes.com/pics/sfix-10-02-2019.gif
Since going public LULU lapped them, SFIX is next to last, and M is a has-been. I used to be a fan of Emerging Retail and even started a board which was closed for lack of activity after a nice 10 year run.
https://discussion.fool.com/my-goodness-dennylast-post-here-on-n…
I watched several SFIX client videos and they certainly are an emerging retailer with an innovative business model perfectly suited to the personalized internet. Amazon’s retail business is the WWW equivalent of Big Box despite their efforts to personalize it. Stitch Fix is the WWW equivalent of a personalized boutique. It reminds me of how Netflix buried BlockBuster. Translated, what the linked video says is that BlockBuster suffered “Innovators’ Dilemma.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4k0iCDfr3TM
It’s not Amazon or Shopify that are in Stitch Fix’s sights but bricks and mortar boutiques and absolutely forget comparing it to software or SaaS, it’s neither. It’s a new experience maybe akin to Book-of-the-Month clubs.
https://urbantastebud.com/best-book-subscription-boxes/
As for buying the stock, the good news is that it’s back to IPO level pricing, past the hype cycle’s “Peak of Inflated Expectations” where one can lose a lot of money but I don’t think the business model has definitively proven itself yet. Certainly a stock to watch.
Denny Schlesinger