Ruchika Kumar's love affair with the idea of curated local fashion was born while living in NYC, but it wasn't until a move to San Francisco that propelled the idea into a business that's refashioning the local shopping experience. 

Boutiika is amongst a new group of influential trend setters, passionately transforming the fashion industry utilizing technology to power innovation. Over the last year, Boutiika has become a boutique discovery platform helping to uncover local gems and grow in store traffic in San Francisco, Austin, Portland and Seattle. 

Now taking it a step further, Boutiika is offering services that devoted shoppers never thought were possible. DASH, Boutiika's same-day delivery service, allows you to purchase items online and have them delivered to you the very same day. Dangerous, we know. Currently being perfected in San Francisco, Ruchika confirms we can expect to see DASH in other cities in the near future. "It's nice to start in a city that you're very close to and where you understand the economics very well to perfect the model and then take it to other places." 

First and foremost, Boutiika's objective is to help drive discovery and foot traffic to the physical store. With 90% of transactions still happening in-store and only 10% through e-commerce, Boutiika is using the internet to reinvent ways to capture the majority. Ruchika can't imagine a world where people aren't interested in shopping. "People love to physically go shopping and they appreciate tools that that help plan the journey, make shopping efficient." 

With Boutiika, this sort of shopping experience is possible. There's a world of fashion out there beyond the online space waiting to get discovered. You can thumb through map views to uncover new shops and most impressively, flip through carousels of real-time inventory allowing you to find the exact boutique that carries the leather skinnies you've been dying for. 

Boutiika is creating value for boutiques by providing a space for them to show off their name and their inventory in front of potential customers that don't yet necessarily know them. Boutiika helps to encourage interaction between boutiques and consumers by hosting boutique crawls, trunk shows and industry events that drive further foot traffic and revenue, and in turn stimulates excitement around the Boutiika brand. "We like to have a presence because we're about bridging the online and in store experience.  It's collaborative, it's community driven. The power is in coming together and that's when everyone gets the most value."

With plans full steam ahead to expand into new markets, you can expect to see Boutiika in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. "We are constantly updating our product and testing innovative ways to engage both retailers and customers in this dynamic and new marketplace." Boutiika just released their new UI/UX tailored by analytics and customer behavior where the product is discovered first and the boutique second. With an average of over 50 products per boutique, it appears that the boutiques are quite excited about Boutiika's support. Ruchika gave us a teaser letting us know favoriting and following will soon be available on the platform too. 

So what advice does Ruchika have for aspiring entrepreneurs trying to break into the fashion industry? "Be prepared for the long haul. Be prepared for the time it takes to really nurture your idea and get it off the ground." 

So, take Boutiika and DASH on a test run and see what's hanging on the racks in your city and let us know what you think! 

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xx!

[caption id="attachment_17557" align="aligncenter" width="551"] The author with Boutiika Founder Ruchika Kumar.(Photo courtesy of Boutiika)[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_17490" align="aligncenter" width="573"] Local love graces a wall at The Bold Italic.[/caption]

As the lights went down in the city, the music was being turned up and drinks were being poured at the recent Wear SF Fashion Mixer thrown by San Francisco fashion startup Boutiika and The Bold Italic. Arriving fashionably late (is there any other way to arrive?) a stylish crowd came dressed to impress in cocktail attire.

The scene: over food and drinks, independent designers, boutique owners and bloggers networked and exchanged tales of their latest fashion endeavors. Getting to scope out the inside of The Bold Italic was also part of the fun. Assorted typewriters and clocks displaying times from all around the world were arranged on the walls, and a giant wooden San Francisco sign displayed just outside the doors is a permanent shout out to the city the online culture site covers on a daily basis.

Taking over another wall was a projection of Instagram photos taken by event goers throughout the evening. Whenever anyone took a picture, he or she could instantly upload it into the photo stream.

For the folks at The Bold Italic, the event was just an extension of what the pub tries to do everyday. As Chris Appelgren of The Bold Italic describes it, the events help to, “celebrate what makes SF uniquely special.”

The event also celebrated the independent fashion scene of San Francisco.

As Devon Chulick, owner of event co-sponsor D-Structure SF puts it, “unlike the fashion scenes in New York and LA, San Francisco is a fashion community. It’s not about what you buy or what you are wearing. Our overall outlook is that the person makes the clothes, the clothes don’t make the fashion.”

Another highlight of the evening was the announcement of the new and revamped Boutiika.com site. Boutiika creates a “personalized shopping experience,” explained site founder Ruchika Kumar, “the philosophy of better fashion is about fit.”

The retooled site was based on feedback from site users. Taken down for site renovations, the newly revamped site is now live and now offers its users a more seamless experience connecting them directly to the boutiques they enjoy.

The goal of Boutiika, which helps its users locate local boutiques to find unique and one-of-a-kind pieces, is to send people into the stores.

“You can’t match the boutique experience,” explained Mo Julapalli of Boutiika. "E-commerce is the craze, but boutique owners have a passion and want people to come in.”

For more San Francisco Fashion News...

Do you have plans on Thursday? Are you in need of some summer staples? Well, look no further, as Ryzenberg On and Boutiika are now taking you on a shopping journey that will have inspired to always look your Sunday  best.

We will meet at That Takes the Cake on Union Street at 2:45 p.m and we will walk some of Cow Hollow's most fashionable enclaves for some fun, styling and goodies.

Be sure to sign up on cowhollow.eventbrite.com and don't miss out on the fun!