Recent developments in AI image generation enabled search engine optimisation (SEO) specialist Danny Richman to rapidly develop a groundbreaking and inexpensive back-end solution for the online store of UK soft furnishings business The Millshop.

FabricGenie provides a high level of personalisation to online visitors, enabling a design to be simply described or images to be uploaded. It then instantly generates unique fabric designs matching the description or complementing the uploaded images.

Customers can then order their preferred designs as either loose fabrics or made-to-measure curtains or blinds.

Speaking during a press conference at the recent Heimtextil exhibition in Frankfurt, Richman described FabricGenie as a world first in the soft furnishings industry.

“This industry has been largely resistant to technological progress and the only significant development has been a shift from buying fabric in high street stores to browsing and ordering online,” he said. “Even this process can often be slow, uninspiring and overwhelming. Our hope is homeowners will find Fabric Genie a more creative and satisfying process, resulting in a product that precisely matches their requirements.”

He explained that the entire back-end system was built on the Zapier platform, making full use of its tight integration with the latest AI models.

“Where bespoke code was required, this was mostly generated by OpenAI’s GPT4 allowing us to keep development times and costs to a minimum,” Richman said. “The entire project took less than 12 weeks from initial concept to public launch. While AI-generated design lends itself perfectly to the repeating designs used for fabrics, this same concept and process could be easily adapted to almost any other product category. AI can be used to enhance products wherever consumers value personalisation and exclusivity.”

www.the-millshop-online.co.uk