Could virtual fittings be the solution to both retailers and sustainable fashion?

Virtual fitting strives to bring the real world shopping experience online, providing a much needed contribution to reducing the fashion industry’s carbon footprint.

Whilst the technology has been around for a while, brands and retailers haven’t realized the benefits of these solutions until recently. The demand has further accelerated with the impact of the pandemic. This year, fit technology has been hitting the headlines with acquisitions by big players such as Walmart, Snap Inc. and the GAP.  

Let’s take a look at how virtual fitting contributes to sustainable fashion practices and why independent retailers can now easily adopt this as part of their online experience.

By not actively addressing size and fit, coupled with the offer of free returns, retailers have inadvertently created unsustainable shopping behavior. 

With more and more consumers shopping online, the demand for personalized services, size inclusive options, and sustainable fashion practices is increasing. The majority of independent retailers are not actively tackling the main challenges around fit, size and styling - online stores are missing out on the benefits of the real-world shopping experience.

Shoppers can’t try on items and see how they look on their unique bodies. “Will it look good on me?” is one of the many questions that are running through customers’ heads before hitting the checkout button. Uncertainty around fit is further compounded by inconsistency of sizes across brands and even in between collections. The result is that customers are reluctant to purchase or buy multiple sizes of the same item. In order to tackle these shopper uncertainties, retailers offer free returns. 

This results in a multi-buy shopping practice, also known as ‘bracketing’, creating unnecessary returns that significantly increases the carbon footprint. In addition, both the shopper and the retailer suffer from processing the returns. 

17 billion items are returned globally each year, which equals roughly 4.7 million metric tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of emissions from 850,000 cars. That’s a huge carbon footprint solely from returns! This is a massive un-addressed opportunity that provides a quick win for the industry.

Pursuing sustainability throughout the business model.

Typically, brands have started to address sustainability from manufacturing. Numerous brands are using recycled materials both to produce and package their goods. The opportunity remains to ensure the supply chain carbon footprint is also minimized. How sustainable is the practice of producing garments using environmentally-friendly materials, but then having these items shipped back and forth between retailers and customers, with many ending up in landfills.

Employing advanced AI, virtual fitting has come a long way in a short period of time. Now, the technology is truly size inclusive and accessible to businesses large and small as a SaaS solution. With 3D fitting rooms, such as Style.me, independent retailers can easily integrate the technology to their online stores with plugins and elevate their overall user experience - covering everyone from petite to curvy.

There are a number of fit-tech solutions available in the market. The main differences in approach are between those solely focused on data vs virtual fitting and styling solutions, which provide 2D or 3D visualization. 

The goal of achieving sustainable fashion practices along with satisfying customer needs are integrally linked. Delivering the real-world shopping experience online will allow customers to purchase with confidence and in a sustainable manner. The opportunity is huge, the solutions exist, now it’s the time to realize the benefits.

Rufus is the President and CEO of Style.me, a 3D virtual fitting solution. With over 15 years of experience in luxury and fashion technology, he and his team are now focused on bringing the real world shopping experience online. 

Today Style.me helps brands of all sizes to personalize the shopping experience and in turn, increase conversions, and importantly reduce returns and the impact of this carbon footprint. 

Find out more about virtual fitting at https://www.style.me