There Is No God Mode for Shopping

And, also, WTF is God Mode?

God mode for shopping. The latest think piece on online shopping from A16Z declares it the future. First, I had to ask myself, WTF is God Mode?

OK, thanks Chat GPT - “a cheat code or a special game mode that makes the player character invincible or immune to damage.” Erm…

I’m just going to say it -there is no god mode for (apparel) shopping, unless your idea of style is buying three Skims dupes off TikTok and calling it a “capsule wardrobe.” In fact, this framing—shopping as a solvable problem, not a process of discovery—is ludicrously reductive.

Some polls I ran last week. This one, not at all surprising - the majority of ppl are browsing!

This one I was more surprised by - who thinks they’ll keep 90% Good for you! I’m the with 40% of ppl returning more than 25%.

Online discovery can only ever solve part of the funnel. The way a garment feels, swishes, flatters your figure, etc can only be ascertained once it’s in your hands. Sorry e-commerce leaders, god mode isn’t taking returns to zero.

Current Mood: Scroll Fatigue with a Side of Choice Anxiety

I’v said it before and I’ll say it again. Friction = good, infinite scroll = bad. Yes, the current state of online shopping is a lot. The options are infinite, the filters mostly cosmetic, and the product images look like AI-generated fever dreams from someone who’s never actually worn pants.

We scroll until our thumbs are sore. We open 17 tabs and commit to none of them. We end up buying the same thing again because it’s easier than rethinking the whole project of self-presentation.

But this messiness? It’s not (all) failure. Some of it is just FASH-UN, darling.

And some of the most joyful moments come not from speed, but from serendipity:
– The eerie Instagram ad that gets you better than your mother.
– A misspelled RealReal listing on page 19 that delivers a Comme des Garçons blazer for $86.
– The Etsy rabbit hole that ends with a pair of handmade earrings and a weirdly personal note from someone named Meredith in Maine.

These aren’t bugs in the system. They’re features.

God Mode Misses the Plot (and the Point)

The a16z vision is slick, sure. Who doesn’t want a psychic concierge who knows your size, budget, and emotional state, then delivers a look that says “quiet luxury, but make it horny”? Certainly venture capitalists would love the predictable returns of e-commerce driven by god-mode shopping.

But let’s talk about the term itself: god mode. In gaming, god mode gives you invincibility, infinite ammo, and total control. In shopping, that translates to: no friction, no surprises, no detours. Just input → output → checkout.

Except fashion doesn’t work that way. You don’t reach for the gods. You fumble around in the dark, fall into a trend you swore you’d never try, and suddenly you’re a mesh top person now. Taste isn’t fixed; it mutates. It responds to context, culture, whatever Kendall Jenner wore in Paris last weekend. That’s the fun.

So while the a16z piece wants to optimize for efficiency, great shopping experiences optimize for emotion. Curiosity. Obsession. Regret. Redemption.

God mode skips the plot entirely. It's like watching White Lotus for the real estate.

What We Actually Want (It’s Not a Checkout Button) (Depop!)

No, I don’t want to bark “Find me the perfect white linen shirt” into a shopping prompt and get one option spat back at me with 99.8% confidence. I want to wander through five imperfect ones. I want to compare the drape, hate the price, question my entire summer aesthetic, and maybe end up buying something totally different that unlocks a new version of myself.

Great commerce tools won’t flatten that experience—they’ll amplify it. Give me better breadcrumbs, not a teleportation tunnel. Let me browse visually, emotionally, moodily. Let me shop by vibe, by season of life, by “I’m going to an art teacher’s birthday brunch and I want to look effortlessly cooler than everyone else, but like I didn’t try.”

I want filters like “Has a good backstory” and “Feels like a breakup outfit.” I want slow search. I want tension. I want chaos, but make it chic. (sidebar, in my research for FitFit, I’ve spent a lot of time with Depop sellers. If you want to know how the kids shop, spend more time there. It’s about a VIBE and the FYP, NOT SEARCH!))

TL;DR: There Is No God Mode for Taste

You don’t shop for clothes like you shop for toner cartridges. You shop for clothes like you’re looking for a sign from the universe.

So let’s skip the god complex and aim for something more useful—like tools that help us explore our contradictions. Build shopping experiences that respect confusion. Celebrate hesitation. Embrace the scroll.

And if your AI really wants to help? Teach it how to find a mislabeled Margiela jacket under “wool coat, gray.” That’s the good stuff.