Virtual Retailers Are Looking For Virtual Reality Technology

Physical retailers are looking for technological solutions to make up for the limitations brought by the epidemic on the fitting room experience, so as to increase consumer confidence and promote purchase.

Because of the epidemic related policies, consumers are no longer as convenient and safe to try on clothes in stores as they used to be. The virtual try on technology, which was despised on the online platform, is now becoming an urgent demand of some stores.

Most of the reopened stores are contactless, which means that fitting rooms will be closed, the flow of people will be limited, and people will have to keep a safe distance from each other. Consumers may not be willing to queue up to the fitting room any more. According to the latest data from first insight, 65% of female consumers feel unsafe when trying on clothes in fitting rooms. As a result, shoppers can only guess the fit of the clothes, and they are more likely to adopt the habit of "buy first and try later" when shopping online. The main reason for consumers to claim that online return of clothing is not as high as 40% of online clothing return value. Even before the outbreak, retailers accounted for a third of the cost of goods returned.

"The bedroom is what people are trying on now," says haniff brown, founder and CEO of fit: match, a virtual fitting technology start-up Next month, fit: match will open a pioneering studio in Oakbrook center in Chicago to conduct body scans and recommend products that fit well. More than 50 brands, including Ted Baker, good American and under armour, have signed up with the company. This fall, fit: match plans to open more studios in Los Angeles and Dallas to begin expanding the company's national reach.

Whether online or offline, virtual fitting technology can not be achieved overnight. The ideal virtual fitting technology must take into account data measurement and individual preferences of each consumer. Moreover, because the sizes of different brands are not consistent, the size recommended by fitting technology companies needs to refer to the accurate measurement from both customers and brands.

During the outbreak, as the retail industry was hit hard, major brands not only relied on fitting technology to bring customers back to their stores, but also expected it to improve the consumer experience. This new urgent demand has opened the door of virtual fitting technology online and offline.

Karen Katz, a consumer consultant and former CEO of the Neiman Marcus group, recalls that when he launched Neiman marcus.com in 2000, he contacted a start-up that offered size advice to consumers. "Today, 20 years later, somehow, it's still a problem - or an opportunity," says Katz. I don't know what technology can really implement virtual fitting and clothing size recommendation, and if it can, it will be a shocking breakthrough. Such cutting-edge technology can be applied online or in stores. "

Fit: match is just one of many fitting technology startups that are applying artificial intelligence to physical stores. Jessica Murphy, co-founder of true fit, another online fitting technology provider, said brands such as Levi's, Ralph Lauren and Kate Spade are in talks with the company to use their technology in stores. And Irina sulejmanovic, Senior Account Manager at fit analytics, said that while the technology they use to provide size advice based on online surveys was developed for e-commerce, brands recently wanted the company to offer solutions specifically for offline stores. After making 3D models and getting 3D look of dimensions through self shooting, we cooperated with men's warehouse and tailored brands, the parent company of jos.a.bank, to design functions for in store experience for the first time.

Artificial intelligence can make fitting suggestions in a variety of ways. In fit: match's studio, customers can answer questions about height, weight and body shape preferences in a mobile app, and then 18 3D cameras will capture 150 data points in 10 seconds. Its algorithm combines the scanned data with the data in the brand technical package, fabric quality information and other inputs to advise customers on the specific styles and sizes of their partner brands.

In the Houston and Miami pilots, Brown said, the experience was particularly appealing to millennials and generation Z customers, with an average age of 27, and 95% accuracy in size and style recommendations. Levy group, which includes brands such as Nautica, Tahari and Betsey Johnson, recently signed a contract with fit: match. Nick levy, head of Levy's e-commerce group, said part of the reason for the move is that fit: match can help them have an in-depth understanding of the market environment and consumers in specific regions, and help brands plan for retail sales. At the same time, make the recommended sizes and styles of different areas more visible before the purchase behavior occurs.

True Fit has conducted user portraits of its 1.8 million registered users. These user portraits will be more appropriate and intelligent, because they not only include the user's own preferences for weight, weight, size and style, but also observe the specific behavior of customers when browsing thousands of cooperative brands. Murphy revealed that under normal circumstances, the conversion rate of brands with true fit technology will increase by three to four times, while the return rate related to size will drop by double digits. Recently, the platform added about 2 million users a week.

The introduction of artificial intelligence based virtual fitting solutions into stores will allow shoppers to enjoy offline shopping without having to try on clothes, and help retailers recover from the losses of physical retail sales, which still account for 78% of total U.S. retail sales. Levy believes that companies like fit: match can give shoppers confidence. "It's clear that haniff is providing a truly viable solution in this challenging environment with declining consumer enthusiasm."

Now, customers can use fit: match to buy goods online or to find physical stores where they are located, and fit: match is developing a concierge style service that allows brands to bring customers' choices to fit: match studios. In the future, brands with excess inventory in specific sizes can sell the product to specific customers, Brown said. True fit is working with retailers to bring technology into stores through their apps; customers will be able to scan QR codes or barcodes in retailer apps to see personal recommendations or access personalized shopping lists from within the store. Although Murphy did not disclose which retailers would be the first to introduce the tool in stores, known customers of its online tool include Macy's, Ralph Lauren and lane Bryant.

In addition, fitting technology is not only applicable to store customers. Some brands are offering these services to in store employees. Whitney Cathcart, co-founder and Chief Strategic Officer of the company, said that with the opening of stores, 3D look was "bombed" by corporate phones, which needed to provide digital measurement tools for employees. Tailored brands uses 3D look, an online tool that allows tailors to measure customers' size information just by scanning the iPad.

Despite the increasing demand for this technology, there are still challenges hindering its rapid mainstream. "Fashion specifications are constantly changing, and people's bodies can change in different materials and shapes," Katz warned From a fashion point of view, it's not easy to have the positive and the negative - "I don't think it's easy. We've been through so many generations of this technology. Everyone knows there are problems, but the most difficult part is to really implement the right and feasible technology. "

But sometimes, even simple technology can work: the Dutch suit brand suitsupply has set up a "safe shopping screen" - putting glass like transparent partitions in front of the fitting mirror, leaving room for the hands of the tailor on both sides of the partition to make personalized adjustments for customers' customized suits. Fokke de Jong, the company's founder and chief executive, said the company's new initiatives aimed to provide customers with "a sense of tradition in the new shopping normal.". "In store customization does not change customer behavior. They are still standing upright, looking in the mirror. "