We have all been there, spending hours on online shopping websites and ending up sending over half of your new clothes back. Beside the disappointment you have to make an effort repacking your purchases and taking them to a post office. To get you money back will take at least a couple of weeks. What if I told you that this could be over soon? In the future we will all be able to fit online clothing on our own bodies in a 3D fitting room!
Online clothes shopping is becoming more and more popular for consumers. However, much of the purchases gets sent back. The percentage of clothes which are returned to the retailers after online sale can be up to 40% (CNBC). The return package, checking of the items, and the repackaging all cost the retailers money. After the consumers and retailers, the environment is also suffering from the unnecessary transportation.
Fortunately ideas are being developed to reduce the percentage of returned clothing items. Research has 86% of returned clothes in Sweden are sent back because of a wrong size or fit (Statista). Many people buy multiple products of the same item in different sizes to increase the chance of buying the right one. It’s time to bring this number down.
ZOZO, a Japanese company, has developed an app where consumers can see how the item fits their own body in 3D. The consumer is sent a ZOZOSUIT, containing more than 350 white unique dots. During measurement, the ZOZO app takes 12 photos of the consumer and captures where each unique dot is located in space. The proprietary algorithm processes this spatial data and triangulates a 3D rendering of your body. These measurements are more accurate than a human tailor. These measurements can be used to fit clothing in 3D visualizers. This revolutionary technology brings 3D body scanning into the home and makes it both accessible, affordable, and accurate for the first time in history.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/685426/reasons-to-return-online-purchased-clothes-in-sweden/
Thanks for introducing the technology of this Japanese company to us. I personally, being a heavy online shopper, face the problem you described above all the time. I order several sizes on purpose just to make sure that I do not have to reorder and wait again for the delivery thereby costing the retailers a lot. I am really wondering why no technology has yet found application in the mass market. The only advances I have seen in recent years is, that the customers can type in their height and weight and their preference regarding fit (e.g. tight, loose, perfect) and a prediction in % about which size would fit best is given. But to be honest, who does measure all their metrics just to find the right size? I would be glad if something like online 3D fitting would be available on all online clothing shops.
Thank you so much for this post Machtelt. This idea is brilliant! I would definitely use it to end the struggle of sending back the clothes that do not fit me properly. ZOZO’s CEO, Yusaku Maezawa, is definitely one of the most innovative persons in the world at the moment. He’s the first person who bought the ticket to go to the moon with Elon Musk’s spacecraft (SpaceX) in 2023. He believes that this trip will inspire and help him in becoming more innovative and creative in its business. If you are also a fan of him and Elon Musk you should read this article: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/09/national/zozo-chief-yusaku-maezawa-eyes-world-peace-inspiration-spacex-moon-trip/#.W8N9HGgzY2w