Name of App: Findable
Available on: Android, iOS
Their Promise: The app lists top brands & stores around you and lets you flip through extensive collections- from apparel, beauty care products and even gifting items. Then? Just wait for them to bring it to you.
Hits: Large radius covered for the most amount of variety, a direct point of contact per order to maintain consistency throughout.
Misses: The UI and design of the app doesn’t quite impress; they’ll also promise delivery within 180 minutes {three hours} which is a promise I suggest you take with a pinch of salt.
How to: To make matters easier {and safer}, contact one of their advisors directly through Whatsapp and get your work done. The app tends to be uber flaky {here I thought that I could rely on technology!}
Who it’s for: Findable caters to all types of people: someone too busy with work to physically head over to a shop, someone who is injured and bedridden, or maybe just lazy or in need of a last minute item {especially a gifting item}.
The MRP of your selected item{s} as well as their delivery cost- which is determined by the distance of the store from the location it needs to be delivered to.
If you ask me, half the fun in shopping is heading to a store, spending at least 30 minutes in it, trying at least ten things and then buying only one. There’s a reason they call it retail therapy, isn’t there? I do understand the need for convenience {and lack of time} though, so an app that lets you shop and then delivers to you sounded pretty damn good to me. Presenting my findings from Findable.
I’ll be honest {I must, for your sake} the app design made me want to uninstall the app and never look back. There’s a sketchiness in some of the images used, as well as their search bar- it seems fake, sets off an alarm in your head and makes you question the street cred of Findable.
Pixelated images and searches that produce no results {even if you click on one of their suggestions} were definitely a red flag. I looked through the collection of stores and brands {without searching for them because that was counterproductive} and the assortment wasn’t bad- it was time to shop!
I looked through a whole boatload of stuff but found nothing that tickled my fancy. Just me being picky, not Findable’s shortcoming- they provided an almost never-ending flow of options from every store I chose to browse.
Point of contention? Missing images, only one view of the product and no description for any of them. For most of the products, it’ll be fairly clear what they look like but most e-tailers provide a variety of angles, as well as a zoomed in version and rightly so. The devil is in the details.
Also? They wouldn’t let me add anything to the wishlist for later, or let me share it.
At this point, I felt like there were two downsides for every plus point I found about the app, but was I giving up? No siree.
They have a special section to directly message an advisor- depending on your category as well as your very own Findable personal shopping assistant {goody!}.
I had decided I wanted Studio Fix foundation from M.A.C but I couldn’t find it on the app, so I decided to drop the Fashion Advisor and the personal shopper a line.
I waited. For over a day. Then I tried to follow up.
I say ‘tried’ because my second message refused to go through. After multiple tries and reloading the app, I decided to use the Whatsapp facility instead, which finally got my order the attention it deserved. Good thing too, because it was starting to work my last nerve.
From here on out, the process was fairly seamless. They called me, located my product and set up a delivery time which was shifted around a little bit {mostly due to my availability} but ultimately I received the product in one piece and great quality.
If you decide to pay online instead of opting for COD- you’ll have to transfer the money beforehand, send them a screenshot and only then will they proceed with your order. They assured me if there was anything wrong with the product, it would be replaced immediately.
I still went with COD because well- it’s better to be safe than sorry and by this point, I was developing trust issues with the app.
Would I go back to Findable for my retail needs? Probably not. Their customer care was surprisingly competent, considering the dubious nature of the app- I’ll give them that. However, it’s been around a week or so since the app has been on my phone and it’s started to malfunction already. I can’t access any of the collections or add anything to my wishlist. They have major potential but at this point, Findable needs a lot of work.
