With consumers demanding technology-driven experiences, tools such as virtual fitting rooms will be essential for fashion businesses willing to thrive.
Adopting a virtual fitting room for eCommerce alleviates customers’ concerns while also providing businesses with a range of competitive advantages. Learn how brands can improve customer satisfaction while increasing sales by implementing a single solution in the new article.
Adopting a virtual fitting room for eCommerce alleviates customers’ concerns while also providing businesses with a range of competitive advantages. Learn how brands can improve customer satisfaction while increasing sales by implementing a single solution in the new article.
Customers have always feared purchasing clothes online because their apparel might not fit. Since the early 2010s, various companies have been working to develop a solution to tackle customer concerns while also providing a more engaging shopping experience.
With the rapid technological advancements of the past decade, innovative sizing solutions have materialized. Among the innovations are virtual fitting tools, which utilize augmented reality and artificial intelligence to recreate the dressing room experience digitally.
As well as addressing customers’ sizing concerns, these solutions can also help brands meet their inclusivity and sustainability goals while driving greater business performance — unsurprisingly, virtual fitting rooms are fast becoming a must-have for fashion retailers.
A virtual fitting room is the digital version of an in-store dressing room, where customers can try on a product virtually to visualize how it may look on their bodies, and evaluate features such as color, pattern, and style before purchasing.
Today, a number of virtual try-on solutions exist. These typically rely on a combination of artificial intelligence, computer vision, and augmented reality. However, not all virtual fitting technology produces the same results or has the same impact on the customer experience.
Some virtual dressing room software focus on providing the customer with a complete view of a brand’s products in various styles and sizes through 3D renders. Typically, these solutions allow customers to view the clothing on a digital mannequin with a similar body to their own (by selecting weight and height, for example). Others take a similar approach but allow the customer to choose from various human models that vary in shape, size, and appearance. These solutions make it easier for the customer to visualize how an item fits the human body but fail to consider that no two bodies are the same.
To overcome this, some 3D virtual fitting solutions encourage customers to enter a number of body measurements and shape selections to create a personalized avatar. Yet, manual measuring introduces the risk of human error and subsequently results in avatars that do not truly reflect the customer’s body.
Others use AR technology to render virtual clothing on top of the customer’s body in real-time through a mobile device. While this helps customers visualize how the garment looks on them, it neglects a key use of the fitting room: to know whether a garment will fit right.
What customers really desire is a solution that doesn’t just show how a garment will look or how a garment will fit. Instead, they want a virtual fitting room that does both, providing the same experience as a physical fitting room. Likewise, with 71% of consumers expecting personalized shopping experiences, according to McKinsey, they don’t want to dress up a model or mannequin they share a resemblance. Rather, they want to see themselves – with their look and shape genuinely reflected in the virtual fitting room.
YourFit by 3DLOOK is the only solution that provides a photorealistic try-on experience tailored to each customer. Unlike alternative solutions, which provide avatars with similarities or overlay images on live video, YourFit instantly generates a unique 3D avatar and over 86 points of measure from a quick scan on a shopper’s mobile device. This is then mapped to the brand or retailer’s product data and delivers a highly visual fit experience while removing the complexity of figuring out what size to buy. This offers everything customers desire from a virtual fitting room: A reliable sense of how a garment will look and fit their unique body, the confidence to complete a purchase, and the highest level of personalization.
Many popular fashion brands are already capitalizing on online fitting room solutions.
Luxury fashion brand Gucci introduced an AR virtual dressing lens for Snapchat in 2020, allowing customers to see how the brand’s sneakers would look on their feet. With an integrated ‘shop now’ option to direct users to the brand’s product pages, Gucci makes the purchasing process easier for customers while also providing an engaging shopping experience.
However, this only scratches the surface of what is possible using 3D virtual fitting technology. To enhance its technology, Snapchat has continued to invest heavily in the virtual fitting room app market, acquiring several startups including Fit Analytics and Screenshop.
Likewise, Walmart acquired the virtual fitting room platform Zeekit and AR virtual dressing technology startup Memomi to expand the capabilities of its own virtual fitting solution. Working with retailers like ASOS and Adidas, Zeekit has developed technology that lets buyers digitally try-on items before buying. Zeekit creates a virtual body model based on a customer’s photos and measurements they can then dress accordingly.
Apparel retailer Gap acquired eCommerce startup Drapr, which uses 3D virtual fitting technology, in August 2021. The startup’s technology enables customers to create 3D avatars of themselves to try on clothing.
However, virtual fitting is not exclusively for online stores; it can also significantly improve the in-store shopping experience. Ralph Lauren, for instance, installed virtual mirrors in its in-store fitting rooms. Cameras embedded in the mirrors utilize Oak Labs’ RFID technology to determine which products a shopper has brought into the fitting room. This data is combined with product information such as available sizes and colors to offer additional product recommendations. Ralph Lauren claims that its virtual mirrors have a 90% interaction rate. Thus, the brand is collecting abundant data from its online fitting room software to fine-tune its retail strategy and improve business performance.
YourFit by 3DLOOK supports retailers both online and in-store, while (as the first and only on the market that combines photorealistic try-on with precise size recommendations to offer customers their own personal virtual fitting rooms) providing consumers with a superior shopping experience. Using YourFit, brands have dramatically improved their conversion, sales, and return rates.
Implementing try-on technology has a myriad of benefits for retailers. According to Shopify, customers who used augmented reality software, such as virtual dressing rooms, to try on clothing were 40% less likely to return the item.
With a virtual dressing room, retailers can help customers figure out their best size, fit, color, and style, increasing their shopping confidence and encouraging them to complete a purchase. Likewise, customers have the freedom to explore variants, customize products to their taste, and try on numerous products in a fraction of the time.
Not only does this engaging experience encourage immediate sales, but it can also boost customer loyalty that drives repeat purchases. Unsurprisingly, retailers have been able to quadruple their sales and boost average order value by as much as 20% using virtual try-on technology.
Using personalized virtual models enables businesses to provide more inclusive and diverse shopping experiences to their customers. For instance, shoppers can choose a digital model with a skin tone, size, and body type similar to their own within the space of a virtual dressing room.
However, retailers can take personalization and inclusivity to the next level with an AI 3D virtual fitting solution. These tools enable customers to see how a product looks not simply on a body model they share a likeness with but on a model created from their own, unique body data. With many let down and left out by a lack of diversity and inclusivity in fashion, retailers shouldn’t underestimate the profit-making potential of a truly personalized virtual try-on experience.
One of the biggest problems for fashion retailers is the ever-growing number of returns. Returns create hassle and cost money, especially if you offer a free return policy. According to Shopify, 30% of all eCommerce returns are due to the product being too small in size, and another 22% of returns occur as a result of consumers ordering an item in a size that is too large.
Providing an online trial room for clothes can assist retailers in resolving the problem of poor fit and eliminate the bracket shopping trend. It allows shoppers to view how an item looks on their bodies without even putting it on, so they know what to expect once it arrives at their door.
Combined with a size recommendation solution aimed at matching customers with their best size and fit, retailers can overcome sizing issues before the customer completes their order. The most effective virtual dressing room software compares each customer’s precise body data against product data to determine the more ideal option for them — helping retailers to avoid up to 10% of returned sales.
Convenience is the foundation of an outstanding eCommerce experience and a significant cause of online shopping’s recent growth. On the other hand, inconvenient processes can put shoppers off. In fact, according to Smart Insights, 97% of consumers abandon purchasing due to a lack of convenience when shopping online.
Clothing, in particular, has one of the highest abandonment rates of any product page. According to SaleCycle, concerns over the product’s fit are to blame 35% of the time. To find the right size, customers must consult complex sizing charts that vary drastically from retailer to retailer or request the support of a customer service agent. This is hardly the convenient experience shoppers turn to eCommerce for.
What they really desire are virtual dressing rooms, which can remove the complexity of sizing from online shopping entirely.
Virtual fitting room technology, such as YourFit, is making it simple for customers to determine whether a product would look good on their bodies. In a matter of seconds, they can scan themselves, the virtual fitting technology produces a tailored recommendation, and they can see exactly what they can expect once the product arrives at their door.
As well as improving the eCommerce experience, virtual try-on technology can bring the convenience of online shopping to the physical store and help brands to create the cohesive experience customers desire.
Amid the pandemic, retailers implemented various safety measures and looked to virtual dressing rooms to replace the traditional fitting room experience. While safety concerns have seemingly faded – with retail sales having surged in early 2022 – demand for these high-tech features remains. More than 70% of millennial shoppers want to see online shopping features implemented in stores, with virtual fitting room technology among the innovations most likely to drive in-store conversions, according to Accenture, while two-thirds of Gen Z shoppers would like to use their smartphones at various points throughout the physical shopping experience.
Virtual fitting technology can play a crucial role in driving conversions, but the right tool could also help brands to acquire data about their customers and the products they buy.
Virtual fitting rooms such as 3DLOOK’s YourFit, which uses body scanning technology to extract each customer’s unique body measurements, offer retailers an abundance of anonymized data. With this, retailers can tweak their dragging rules, improve distribution, tailor marketing campaigns, and design future products according to the needs and preferences of their most loyal customers.
According to Context Consulting, half of the young shoppers prefer greater technology use in retail over lower prices.
By introducing a virtual fitting room for eCommerce, your customers will perceive your company as more innovative and customer-focused than your competitors, giving you a competitive advantage. Additionally, when you mix such innovative initiatives with an advanced marketing strategy, your brand’s potential for growth increases enormously.
An increasingly competitive market is driving retailers to find innovative ways to get ahead, and virtual fitting rooms are a viable option for retailers – big and small – hoping to improve business performance and encourage consumer engagement.
According to McKinsey, digital, sustainability and consumer engagement – which represent the desires of young consumers – present the three biggest opportunities for fashion businesses. Implementing 3D virtual fitting room software can help retailers to meet all of these desires.
Not all virtual dressing rooms are created equal and the results will vary drastically depending on the solution a brand implements. However, virtual dressing rooms that meet both the needs of consumers to see how a product looks and how it fits before they purchase can have a significant impact on a number of important retail metrics.
For instance, using YourFit, brands have been able to boost their average product page views and session length by up to 300%. Providing customers with the confidence to shop without worrying about size and fit, its personal virtual fitting rooms are able to increase AOV by as much as 25%, while conversion rates grow by 13-16% on average.
Virtual fitting rooms can also dramatically reduce returns. YourFit customers see a 3-6% decrease on average, but the results are often far greater. By opening the doors to 3DLOOK’s personal virtual fitting rooms, shaping swimwear brand TA3 SWIM was able to cut its size-related returns by almost half, to just 9%, over a six-month period.
But the success of an online fitting room implementation will depend on how well it meets consumers’ needs. For instance, a virtual fitting room app that merely maps a product image over the customer’s body won’t enlighten customers on how a product will fit their body – which is crucial to the virtual fitting experience. Thankfully, the market offers a complete, ready-made solution that can be easily integrated into a brand’s existing eCommerce ecosystem: YourFit by 3DLOOK.
As the first personalization solution to combine virtual try-on with size and fit, users get both the option to try on clothes virtually, as well as personalized recommendations for the clothing they’re interested in and which fits them. YourFit also includes an exciting social sharing feature, enabling users to share their try-on experience with their friends and followers through any social app. As well as encouraging social proof that increases a customer’s confidence, promotes brand re-engagement, and brings new shoppers back to the brand’s website as a form of customer acquisition.
With consumer wants and expectations evolving, now is the right time for brands and retailers to explore and deploy innovations such as virtual fitting rooms, which promise exciting benefits for both retailers and consumers.
Further reading: AR clothing try-on: Who benefits and how?
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__hstc | 1 year 24 days | This cookie is set by Hubspot and is used for tracking visitors. It contains the domain, utk, initial timestamp (first visit), last timestamp (last visit), current timestamp (this visit), and session number (increments for each subsequent session). |
_ga | 2 years | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors. |
_gat_UA-92309701-1 | 1 minute | This is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element on the name contains the unique identity number of the account or website it relates to. It appears to be a variation of the _gat cookie which is used to limit the amount of data recorded by Google on high traffic volume websites. |
_gcl_au | 3 months | This cookie is used by Google Analytics to understand user interaction with the website. |
_gid | 1 day | This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to store information of how visitors use a website and helps in creating an analytics report of how the website is doing. The data collected including the number visitors, the source where they have come from, and the pages visted in an anonymous form. |
_hjFirstSeen | 30 minutes | This is set by Hotjar to identify a new user’s first session. It stores a true/false value, indicating whether this was the first time Hotjar saw this user. It is used by Recording filters to identify new user sessions. |
hubspotutk | 1 year 24 days | This cookie is used by HubSpot to keep track of the visitors to the website. This cookie is passed to Hubspot on form submission and used when deduplicating contacts. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__hssrc | session | This cookie is set by Hubspot. According to their documentation, whenever HubSpot changes the session cookie, this cookie is also set to determine if the visitor has restarted their browser. If this cookie does not exist when HubSpot manages cookies, it is considered a new session. |
cookielawinfo-checbox-analytics | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-functional | 11 months | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". |
cookielawinfo-checbox-others | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement | 1 year | The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Advertisement". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". |
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance | 11 months | This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". |
JSESSIONID | session | Used by sites written in JSP. General purpose platform session cookies that are used to maintain users' state across page requests. |
viewed_cookie_policy | 11 months | The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
__hssc | 30 minutes | This cookie is set by HubSpot. The purpose of the cookie is to keep track of sessions. This is used to determine if HubSpot should increment the session number and timestamps in the __hstc cookie. It contains the domain, viewCount (increments each pageView in a session), and session start timestamp. |
bcookie | 2 years | This cookie is set by linkedIn. The purpose of the cookie is to enable LinkedIn functionalities on the page. |
lang | session | This cookie is used to store the language preferences of a user to serve up content in that stored language the next time user visit the website. |
lidc | 1 day | This cookie is set by LinkedIn and used for routing. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_fbp | 3 months | This cookie is set by Facebook to deliver advertisement when they are on Facebook or a digital platform powered by Facebook advertising after visiting this website. |
bscookie | 2 years | This cookie is a browser ID cookie set by Linked share Buttons and ad tags. |
fr | 3 months | The cookie is set by Facebook to show relevant advertisments to the users and measure and improve the advertisements. The cookie also tracks the behavior of the user across the web on sites that have Facebook pixel or Facebook social plugin. |
IDE | 1 year 24 days | Used by Google DoubleClick and stores information about how the user uses the website and any other advertisement before visiting the website. This is used to present users with ads that are relevant to them according to the user profile. |
personalization_id | 2 years | This cookie is set by twitter.com. It is used integrate the sharing features of this social media. It also stores information about how the user uses the website for tracking and targeting. |
test_cookie | 15 minutes | This cookie is set by doubleclick.net. The purpose of the cookie is to determine if the user's browser supports cookies. |
Cookie | Duration | Description |
---|---|---|
_ga_NXNB16WGX6 | 2 years | No description |
_hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress | 30 minutes | No description |
_hjid | 1 year | This cookie is set by Hotjar. This cookie is set when the customer first lands on a page with the Hotjar script. It is used to persist the random user ID, unique to that site on the browser. This ensures that behavior in subsequent visits to the same site will be attributed to the same user ID. |
_hjIncludedInPageviewSample | 2 minutes | No description |
_lfa | 2 years | This cookie is set by the provider Leadfeeder. This cookie is used for identifying the IP address of devices visiting the website. The cookie collects information such as IP addresses, time spent on website and page requests for the visits.This collected information is used for retargeting of multiple users routing from the same IP address. |
_pin_unauth | 1 year | No description |
_pinterest_ct_ua | 1 year | No description |
AnalyticsSyncHistory | 1 month | No description |
RUL | 1 year | No description |
UserMatchHistory | 1 month | Linkedin - Used to track visitors on multiple websites, in order to present relevant advertisement based on the visitor's preferences. |
Boost fit confidence, solve sizing and drive loyalty with the ultimate virtual fitting room experience