The clothes market

The clothing sector is arguably one of the most important markets in the world. In this present day, having a knowledge of how influencer marketing affects consumers buying decision is a great tool making great sales. However, due to retailers now putting their business online, one concern for buyers is how to get their proper fit. The fit of a cloth is a major element to customers wearing the clothes and must be addressed soon enough. For instance, a lingerie seller should find new way of getting a customer fir with a better depiction of body size and forget about previous sizing methods. Using a virtual try-on system, the experience of a customer shopping online is improved which can increase their willingness to shop again from you. Buying Clothing Fit The correlation between the idea of discrete expression and dressing is convolutedly multifaceted. The relation can be observed in consumer’s everyday life through the recurring use of similar clothing color, fashion propensities, and brands among others. Many individuals tend to use colors and contrast to express feelings to their frame of mind. Consequently, the apparel properties such as comfort, design, and distinctiveness have a pivotal role in the apparel’s buying behavior. Nonetheless, this may differ contingent on a set of dynamics majorly on gender. It is worth pointing out that in the recent past, consumer behavior, as well as expectations, have undergone an incredible transformation. While it continues to transform, consumer behaviors have had a profound impact on the retailers globally. In this age of the internet, connected consumers demands for their ability to engage with brands when, where and how they wish. It appears that the long-held certainties concerning the path to purchase has shifted. The traditional brick and motor shopping is only arrived at after exhausting the online search. Today, many consumers prefer to shop online and expect the retailers to meet their seamless experience across their online platforms. Even so, flexibility is demanded and not requested regarding the experience at the point of purchase and their home.

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There is no doubt many apparel retailers have set up online purchasing platforms to facilitate the sale of their merchandises via electronic shopping sites. This is to say a majority if not all apparel retailers have adopted the e-commerce platforms to sell their commodities. However, there is an arising issue concerning the online sale of apparel, especially among the lingerie retailers. Clothing fit is considered a significant aspect to costumers in clothing appearance. Not all consumers have the expertise, cognitive skills, and the knowledge to enable them realistically evaluate the fit of clothes during purchase. Besides, the selling of textile products online is a great challenge to the retailers since the purchaser cannot touch or feel the available products. Among the most challenging kinds of apparel most affected by clothing, the fit problem is the lingerie. This is no doubt a significant challenge impacting on the businesses of the lingerie retailers. This is so because every female consumer’s fit expectations, evaluation, and satisfaction are impacted not just by functionality but the cognitive meanings and emotional pleasure as well. Therefore, lingerie and general apparel fit is a challenging issue that retailers are currently grappling with.

The concern of the clothing fit is important for the reason it influences the emotional needs of the consumers, which is an essential dimension impacting their satisfaction. It is important for the retailers to understand the significance of fit recognition as well as reference. Also, it is the same reason that accounts for more than half of the returns of clothing based on a lack of fit. In this regard, there is a need for the lingerie retailers to go beyond just the body measurements by incorporating fit preferences based on the categorical profiles of the various consumer groups. Besides, there is a crucial need for a thorough understanding of different body shapes and cathexis on personal fit preference. This will ensure consumers get appropriate apparel fit that is worth their money and which will consequently improve the sell-through.

Solving the Apparel Fit Issue

It is surprising to see that while retailers have adopted the e-commerce channel overwhelmingly, they blindly took with them the traditional cloth sizing. Time has proved that traditional sizing is no longer an accurate depiction of the consumer’s body. The poor fit can be attributed to the ineffectiveness of the charts. It is reported that about a quarter of the online clothing purchases are returned due to fit problems. This means most retailers do not have a clear way for customers to efficiently try and assess the fit of apparel or lingerie across their multiple online platforms.

A significant confidence gap has been created in verifying the size and fit, which is even more apparent with online shopping. There is a need for retailers to keep up to date with target consumer fit preferences. Nonetheless, the issue can be resolved in various ways to ensure consumers confidently shop online without the need to try cloths physically. The foremost approach to solving the problem is for retailers to focus on an effective interaction that aids the consumers’ purchase decisions through the use of an easy-to-use interface. The areas to improve customer’s shopping experience include interactivity, virtual experiences and customized alternative information availability. These aspects instill confidence to consumers to purchase online and enable them to understand a product before purchasing it.

Figure 1: Virtual customization store retrieved from Fitnect.com

Today’s technological advancement can allow an e-shopper to try on clothes before clicking on the buy button virtually. While this breakthrough is as interesting as it is, it is yet to be fully adopted by some retailers who continue to rely on 2D clothing pattern. There are several products out there such as the ClothCap that uses 4D to take full stock of the person being scanned. It allows a shopper to see how clothing drapes on their body and even where it wrinkles. With such products, retailers can improve their customer's shopping experience and most importantly cut off on the rate of return of the online clothing purchases.

Nonetheless, lingerie retailers will need to invest in the virtual try-on system for the clothing on their sites. This calls for resources to be spent in improving the shopping experience and boosting sell-through. Of note is that it may probably take a while before we see this technology fully deployed on the lingerie retailers on their store websites. Of course, the delay is tied to the complexity of the system and the fact that such a system cannot be cheap. Banana Flame, a U.K. based online clothing retailer, proves that the virtual-try on the system can be a success. Using Zugara’s augmented reality e-commerce software dubbed ‘webcam social shopper,’ is a full proof that the solution should be the next course of action to solve the issue of clothing fit.

Expected Impact of the Virtual Try-on System

The proposed solution will significantly impact on e-shopper’s purchasing experience on the store websites in positive ways. With the virtual try-on system, customers will confidently shop online without the need to try the purchased items on physically. The overall satisfaction level of the customers will be boosted and their loyalty to the retailers enhanced. While the buying volume will go up, the frequency for the consumers getting back to the store site will be drastically increased. Still, the retailers will significantly cut down on the rate of return of the online clothing purchases resulting from a poor fit. As expected, sales will go up, and revenues will improve significantly.

With the new approach, what was probably a disconnection between the brands defining the lingerie and swimwear apparel sizes will be breached. There will be a further concern for the body shape as well as measurements. Even better, retailers will be able to align consumer body shape data along with sizing in an efficient, scalable and accurate way. Not only will this solve the fit issues but it would provide an opportunity for the retailers to expand and scale their businesses. It is worth mentioning that the system will entice customers to not only make frequent online purchases but also physically visit the retailer’s physical in-store. Research has revealed that a significant number of women prefer to shop for clothing online, which means with improved clothing fit the number is likely to go up. What is interesting is that a majority of women hate trying on cloth and thus a virtual try-on system would just be the right remedy for that. Therefore, it is the time that lingerie retailers remedy the issue of clothing fit once and for all.

References

3D Virtual fitting dressing room/mirror. (2017). Fitnect.hu. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.fitnect.hu/

Anita Performance Sports bra alliance with the Canadian Sports Institute Ontario. (2017). Us9.campaign-archive1.com. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://us9.campaign-archive1.com/?u=78327757e3308ff7125b4c925&id=4147f60978

Moorcroft, S. (2017). Try Before You Buy – Virtually | Innovation Management. Innovation Management. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/11/23/try-before-you-buy-virtually/

The new virtual system allows you to try on clothes. (2017). The Indian Express. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from http://indianexpress.com/article/technology/science/new-virtual-system-allows-you-to-try-on-clothes-4809667/

Sanad, R. (2016). Consumer Attitude and Purchase Decision towards Textiles and Apparel Products. World Journal Of Textile Engineering And Technology, (2), 16-30.

This virtual try-on system for clothing might actually work. (2017). Engadget. Retrieved 12 October 2017, from https://www.engadget.com/2017/08/03/clothcap-virtual-try-on-system-for-clothing/