Who are you?

Florent Laming is a graduate of Arts et Métiers and EM Lyon, and deals with the business side of things. Pascal is in his thirties, has worked for SFR and Orange, and is the boss when it comes to anything technical.

How did the UPFIT adventure begin?

Pascal and I have known each other for several years. We were on quite a few projects at the same time… so from around! While chatting one night, we discovered that we both had the same problem: we don’t like going to shops – too many people, not enough time…

Naturally, we turned to the internet to do our shopping but we quickly found a huge problem with buying online. In theory, we did it to save time, but we ran the risk of finding ourselves with a pair of jeans that were too small or too big, therefore a return via the post office was necessary, and thus time was wasted!

This is where the idea for Upfit came from: a simple, quick and reliable system to advise online shoppers which size to choose. Originally an idea for a B2C platform, we quickly moved onto a B2B offer, with a widget implanted directly on the sellers’ sites.

How does that work exactly?

The shopper clicks on the find my size button. They then simply have to enter in some basic figures (age, height, weight, shape). These are numbers that everybody knows, so they can be entered anywhere and anyhow, which is vital for mobile. From these figures, our statistical technology calculates les measurements of the shopper and compares them to the data of the product they wish to buy. Upfit, therefore, delivers personalised sizing advice based on the product’s actual sizes. All that without needing to actually measure oneself or to upload photos! We even go much further by taking comfort into account – we automatically analyse purchases and returns on our partner sites to continuously improve our sizing predictions. This also allows us to go to retailers, who often do not have real product figures to give us.

What is your mission with UPFIT?

To provide online shoppers with a personalised service to help reassure them when buying clothes online.
In concrete terms, it is to offer them a quick and simple solution which will allow them to avoid to pitfalls of shopping online. Alongside that, we hope to improve e-shops by improving their performance, as much quantitative – through the number of returns and exchanges – as qualitative with client satisfaction and loyalty.

Why trust your company?

We have spent two years in R&D working on this complex technical solution, which delivers fast and reliable advice. For us, that is the key to success in such a system. This is the reason that Galeries Lafayette has already placed its trust in us.

Moreover, as the market is rapidly evolving, listening to our clients and re-assessment are key aspects. We are often asked to co-create with a large number of clients (such as for example using our tool in a real shop or in production zones), to really meet different needs.

Describe your typical day.

It’s quite straightforward – coffee in the morning, table football in the afternoon and relaxation in the evening! In all seriousness, it involves a lot of cold-calling and travelling. There’s also a lot of following-up of exchanges with the technical team to ensure that we are moving forward together in the right direction and, above all, to be able to follow our clients as best as possible.

Your proudest moment?

Having signed with Galeries Lafayette.

What has Look Forward brought you?

Help on the marketing front, more visibility in regards to brands and a work space in a dynamic zone in our sector.

As well as, above all, an entrepreneurial environment in which we can discuss and share ideas with a lot of other start-ups in the same sector as ourselves.

Finally, any advice for internet start-ups looking to set up their own business? Or indeed for anyone who might be hesitant to set up their business in France?

Know how to quickly surround yourself with the right people and do not go it alone.

It is true that the market is smaller in France, but when creating a start-up it is easier to break into a very large market which is foreign (this can create cultural barriers).