Fanatics and OpenAI launch AI-powered shopping tool to curate sports outfits

Solving the catalog challenge

Fanatics has grown into a massive sports-industry platform, manufacturing more than 45 million items annually. With a catalog exceeding 1.5 million unique items, the company faces a significant hurdle in helping customers find what they want. Justin Tsai, chief product officer for Fanatics Commerce, noted that customers often spend over 30 minutes on average just trying to navigate the sheer volume of products.

The company releases upwards of a thousand new products every week, making traditional curation methods difficult to maintain. Methods like organized photo shoots or manually styled outfits have long lead times that cannot keep up with rapid inventory changes. This is especially true for high-demand items like championship shirts or hats that need to be available quickly.

The goal of the new 'Shop the Look' feature is to streamline this process for the user. By providing coordinated outfits on individual product pages, the company hopes to help fans move from browsing to purchasing faster. This transition is part of a broader strategy to manage a multibillion-dollar commerce business that is expected to exceed $7 billion in revenue this year.

How Codex powers the curation

To power this new functionality, Fanatics teamed up with OpenAI to utilize Codex. This technology parses through the company's vast product and catalog data to identify compatible items. Instead of showing random products, the AI looks for specific alignments in team branding and intended style to create cohesive looks.

The system is designed to be highly specific to the needs of sports fans. For example, the AI ensures that a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers is not matched with merchandise from the San Francisco Giants. Because team and player alignment is so critical in the sports world, the tool must prioritize these specific data points over general aesthetic matches.

This approach represents a shift toward what OpenAI's Rosemary DeArago calls 'deterministic matching.' While older e-commerce methods tried to stitch together data points like purchase history or location, AI can perform more precise personalization. It can automatically suggest a hat, socks, and other accessories to complement a specific jersey a fan is considering buying.

Impact on the shopping experience

The integration of AI into the shopping flow is intended to give customers more conviction in their purchases. By seeing how a specific item fits with other gear, shoppers can better visualize the final look before checking out. This helps reduce the friction of making a decision among thousands of available options.

Early data suggests the tool is already having a measurable impact on user behavior. After rolling out the feature, Fanatics reported a 10% increase in views of recommended items. This indicates that shoppers are engaging with the AI's suggestions rather than ignoring them as they might with less relevant advertisements.

For the retailer, this technology helps manage the logistical reality of a rapidly expanding product pool. It allows the company to scale its offerings without needing to manually curate every single combination of merchandise. This creates a more efficient way to handle the constant influx of new items while maintaining a personalized feel for the user.

The broader AI retail landscape

This partnership is part of a larger trend of OpenAI leveraging its technology across the retail sector. While OpenAI previously experimented with a feature that allowed users to buy products directly within ChatGPT, it is now shifting toward working with retailers to create dedicated apps. The Fanatics deal highlights how these models are being integrated into existing platforms rather than just standalone chatbots.

DeArago noted that while there is still room for human-curated looks and in-person try-ons, AI offers a significant opportunity to enhance the current experience. The technology acts as a filter for massive selections, helping users find what they need in a fraction of the time. It addresses the 'age-old problem' of retail personalization by using data to find the specific 'fingerprint' of what a customer wants.

As Fanatics continues to expand its reach into more than 180 countries, these AI tools will likely become standard. The ability to provide instant, accurate, and team-specific recommendations allows the company to maintain its growth. It ensures that as the catalog grows, the shopping experience remains navigable for the average fan.