Wheretoget.it is Quora for shoppers

So now that everyone is pretty much in agreement that Quora was the hottest startup of 2010, we’ll definitely start to see a lot of Quora-inspired platforms and services for niche markets. Like fashion. Wheretoget.it is a brand new platform launched last week that is essentially Quora for shoppers. And yes, just as the URL indicates, the site seeks to respond to one very simple question: where to get it?

You don’t have to be a fashion expert to appreciate the concept. I’m sure many of us have been in a situation where we’ve seen someone with a nice bag, tie, scarf, etc. and would like to know where to get it. But since it can be hard to approach a random person in the street (or better yet, a photo in a magazine or on a blog), we never find out where to get the item. With Wheretoget.it, users can upload a photo of the item to the platform and let the site’s community do the work.

Users can respond by posting links to the product on e-commerce sites and for every link posted, the user gets 10 points. While the startup is still tinkering with its business model (most likely based on affiliation and sponsored links), it would definitely make sense to offer discounts to users with a certain number of points.

Wheretoget.it seems even more simple to use than Quora – perhaps because of the site’s visual aspect and the fact that it is only dealing with one simple question. But otherwise, a majority of the features are more or less the same. If users come across a particular item that they like, they can “follow the look” to find out when other users post links on where to get it. All regisered users have profiles – which let other users view their activiy and history – and obviously there is the exact same Facebook and Twitter integration as one would find with Quora. Oh, even the little red and yellow “reply” or “follow” buttons look like they’re right off the Quora site (but in different colors, obviously).

But what seems a little tricky is avoiding double-posting the same item. Even if they are using tags, it could be difficult to screen for the same item. Then again, the team doesn’t really seem too concerned by this. What they are more preoccupied by is responding to the real-time demand, as fashion trends change rather rapidly. This is the reason that there are 2 different categories at the top of the homepage, titled “Popular Quests” and “New Quests.” Naturally “New Quests” is updated in real-time, where as the queries in “Popular Quests” are selected by the team.

Additionally, the company is planning on integrating some geolocalization aspects into the platform. This is mainly so that e-shoppers who prefer to try on an item before buying it can find places to do so.

Naturally, Wheretoget.it is not only riding the Quora wave but is also part of a new trend of social shopping services coming out of France. Some of these sites include social mirror LooknBe, social wardrobe Dress-Me, social live fashion site Ykone and video-based social shopping platform Walldress. Plus, the Wheretoget.it team had also launched a crowd-sourced lookbook called Hypeed prior to the new site.

So whether you want to dress like you’re fresh off the runway from Paris fashion week or a cheap version of Mark Zuckerberg, Wheretoget.it will show you where to go to get what you’re looking for. Now I’m curious what the next Quora-inspired site will be…