Fanatics has introduced a new shopping feature called "Shop the Look" that uses OpenAI's Codex to suggest coordinated outfits on its product pages. The tool matches in-stock items based on team affiliation and intended style, aiming to streamline navigation through the company's extensive catalog.
Fanatics currently offers more than 1.5 million unique SKUs, ranging from jerseys and hats to team-branded streetwear and socks. The company manufactures over 45 million items annually and sells them in more than 180 countries. Justin Tsai, chief product officer for Fanatics Commerce, noted that this scale has created a challenge for customers navigating hundreds of sites. He stated that shopping sessions routinely average over 30 minutes, a duration that compounds as Fanatics releases upwards of a thousand new products each week.
Traditional curation methods, such as photo shoots and stylized outfits, often face lead times that do not align with Fanatics' rapid product releases, including quick-turn items like championship merchandise. Random suggestions are also ineffective for sports fans, Tsai explained, emphasizing that team and player alignment is critical; for instance, a Los Angeles Dodgers fan would not want to be matched with San Francisco Giants items.
"Shop the Look" addresses these issues by parsing product and catalog data to find compatible items and reevaluate recommendations. The system suggests accessories, such as hats or socks, to complement a primary item like a jersey. Tsai reported that following the rollout, views of recommended items increased by 10%. He added that the suggestions help shoppers gain more conviction about their purchases by visualizing how new gear fits with existing team items.
Rosemary DeArago, head of industry GTM at OpenAI, described the personalization challenge in retail as an "age-old problem." While e-commerce has provided tools to identify customer fingerprints through purchase history or location data, those efforts sometimes miss the mark. DeArago stated that AI enables more deterministic matching for next-level personalization compared to previous methods of stitching together generic recommendations.
This development is part of OpenAI's broader experimentation with shopping tools for ChatGPT. The company previously launched a feature allowing users to buy products directly within ChatGPT but is now ending its Instant Checkout effort to work directly with retailers on dedicated apps, according to CNBC reporting. DeArago said the integration of AI to narrow down massive product selections represents a significant opportunity to enhance the existing shopping experience, even as curated looks and in-person try-ons remain part of the retail landscape.
Team merchandise remains Fanatics' largest revenue source. In an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" earlier this month, founder and CEO Michael Rubin projected that the commerce division will generate more than $7 billion in sales this year. This estimate stands in contrast to the collectibles business, which includes Topps trading cards and is expected to bring in approximately $5.5 billion.