Leaders are defined by their ability to understand the market needs beforehand and address them accordingly. Kimberly Carney is one such leader who has an innate talent to know what the market needs and delivers it through her passion, vision, drive, and authenticity with her venture, GlossWire. As the Founder and CEO, Kimberly has a unique perspective on fashion and beauty’s interplay of data and marketability. GlossWire’s state-of-the-art technology gives brands vital real-time data on how to provide better products to consumers.
Being Trailblazer Within Retail Digital Sector
With a background in tech and owning a contemporary men’s and women’s clothing boutique for 15+ years, Kimberly saw the need early on for fashion to adapt to technology, which was the catalyst for the concept of GlossWire’s sister platform, FashWire.
FashWire was launched in 2018 with a Google Partnership. Its brand base had grown from 25 to just over 200 when the pandemic hit. In 2020, and with traditional retail being shut down, the brands that had said no previously reached out to get on the platform, and today the FashWire platform has over 400 brands from more than 35 countries.
With the success of FashWire and nothing like its platform in beauty, Kimberly’s team convinced her to launch a beauty vertical. After five months of development and secretly bringing on brands, GlossWire launched in February 2021 and now has over 175 beauty brands. The biggest challenge for Kimberly as an entrepreneur was the early stages with FashWire. The bigger affiliate companies didn’t take her seriously, and they told her that she would never get brands. She proved them wrong, and today becoming a trailblazer within the retail digital sector.
Engaging Shoppers Across All Channels
GlossWire’s global platform, a two-sided marketplace, provides over 175 brands vital insight into consumer shopping patterns through trending data and real-time actionable insights. Its partnering brands then receive this data allowing them to make smarter production decisions — driving conversion, repeat purchases, and profitability.
For the consumer, GlossWire offers the organic discovery of worldwide beauty by leveraging technology to engage shoppers across all channels. It achieves this by offering an interactive experience with its social integration tools – such as swiping, liking, and sharing – to build a community the consumer feels empowered to be a part of – while directly influencing the brands in real-time.
This interactive digital connection between the brand and consumer help the brands create more relevant and sustainable products that consumers want to purchase, creating loyalty and bottom-line growth.
Supporting Early-stage Brands
GlossWire’s mission from day one was to connect the brands with the consumer, creating discovery and conversation about the products they want to purchase. Since its launch, it has made and is continuing to impact through its curated digital marketplace, its global pitch competitions, and its philanthropic arm.
The company’s GlossWire Pitch Competitions “GlossPitch” provides incredible support to its partnering brands. Encouraging GlossWire brands to expand their offerings creates an impact within the beauty space as they accelerate forward and provide a sustainable business model.
As a female entrepreneur who had tremendous support and help along the way, Kimberly has always believed in paying it forward by supporting early-stage brands. With GlossWire, she wants to provide a network and support system to its emerging beauty brands, and she can do that with her industry expert Advisory Board and connections in the beauty industry. Kimberly feels very strongly about sharing knowledge, raising funds, industry networks, and marketing support whenever she can.
Blending Personalization with Human Facilitation
GlossWire’s technology is redefining how beauty brands interact with their consumers. Through its data-driven technology, GlossWire is giving brands real-time data and actionable insights on how to provide better products to consumers. Instead of relying on traditional ways of trend forecasting, brands can instantly have access to consumer feedback that allows for planning their brand strategies and quantities in a timely and very efficient manner. Emerging and established brands can also utilize GlossWire’s integrated social media capabilities to help them stay relevant through real-time digital engagement while waiting for product to be back in stock. The brands then become more discoverable to wider audiences allowing them to generate revenue more easily. Having a data-driven-based tech platform has allowed GlossWire to navigate the challenges of the pandemic. Connecting with consumers in a meaningful way is key. Blending personalization with human facilitation has driven its success, including being named a finalist in Unilever’s and WWD’s Project Connect and recently named a finalist for Fashion Group International’s Rising Star Award in the Beauty Entrepreneur category. And, there is more to come.
Building an Immersive Environment for Consumers
GlossWire’s first-to-market platform is already making the change to the industry at large. From cosmetics, haircare, fragrance, skincare, bath, and body care to men’s grooming, GlossWire is the ultimate place to find the brands consumers love. It will continue to build an environment for the consumer that immerses them in the GlossWire world. It is a platform where technology meets the purpose and one that puts the brands in the drivers’ seat.
Connecting Consumers to Innovative Skincare Products
GlossWire’s primary purpose is to connect the consumer to innovative skincare products with the curious consumer. Its audience wants to know what is happening in the skincare market from efficacy to effectiveness to understand what the newest and most noteworthy trends in ingredients are.
GlossWire curates and champions its brands across all beauty categories, with a distinct focus on emerging brands. In addition to its consumer intelligence technology, it gives brands a way to communicate their message globally: Both its platforms support brands through various educational opportunities for the consumers. Its exclusive interviews and Instagram LIVE discussions introduce these brands to its global communities. GlossWire simultaneously features its products in a constantly rotating editorial and this all-encompassing storytelling brand deep dive is a differentiating element to any other beauty platform.
Staying True to Purpose and Mission
GlossWire continues to expand with numerous innovations on its roadmap and is localizing the platform to make it more accessible to brands around the world. Through their innovation, they continue to democratize digital sales for brands around the world. User interaction will continue to be a key differentiator. Combining that experience with deep data, social integration, and curated content makes it a highly coveted solution for emerging and established brands. GlossWire’s success will be driven by staying true to its purpose and mission as it continues to leverage technology for even stronger brand-consumer connectivity.
Choosing Supporting and Encouraging Association
Kimberly advises aspiring entrepreneurs to follow their passion and be sure to surround themselves with people who will support them and encourage them not to give up.
