Buy fashion that fits perfectly, even on the Internet: With this goal in mind, a research group has developed a tool with which clothing can be tried on virtually. This will reduce returns in the future.
Fewer returns in online retail – that is the goal of a research group at Hof University. They have developed a tool that could significantly reduce the number of returns. An online demonstrator is intended to help people choose the right clothing in the online shop – and thus stem the flood of returns.
In concrete terms, this means: Products can be tried on virtually on the computer, as project manager Christian Groth from the Institute for Information Systems at the Upper Franconian university said. In this way, customers should be able to make as precise a pre-selection as possible in terms of fit, size and taste – almost like in the changing room in the store. “The only thing that cannot be represented here is the tactile experience of the material or the feeling of wearing it,” says Groth.
Height must be specified
So that the clothing can be tried on virtually, the demonstrator uses the customer’s current camera image as well as images of the items in different poses. “This makes it possible to virtually adapt a photorealistic and size-correct representation of the selected item of clothing to the customer,” said Groth.
And it’s supposed to work quite precisely: “You can see whether the sleeves are too long, for example.” The customer only has to specify their overall body size in addition to the photo, “the rest is calculated,” Groth continued.
Fashion returns above average
The university wants to publish its tool as open source software and hopes to primarily support small and medium-sized companies. There have been major efforts in online retail for a long time to reduce the number of returns because returns cause high costs. According to a study published in December by the retail research institute EHI, retailers have to spend an average of between five and ten euros for each returned item. That’s why some retailers now charge money for returns.
According to EHI, the rates for returns are on average between six and ten percent, and for fashion products even 26 to 50 percent. This is mainly because customers often order the goods they want in two sizes so that one actually fits, said Marco Atzberger, member of the EHI management team.
To prevent this, there are currently two options: Retailers are keen to describe the goods as precisely as possible, for example by indicating whether the item of clothing is large or small. Another variant is to virtually measure the customer. But Atzberger sees a hurdle here – namely consumer acceptance of making this data available.