Getty Images | Marcos del Mazo | LightRocket Katherine Hearden, 20, stocked up on tops, shorts, and dresses in a variety of sizes during a recent trip to Zara, a fast-fashion retailer. Zara knew she wouldn’t be able to try anything on in the store because the changing rooms were still locked owing to Covid-related restrictions. Instead, Hearden checked out and walked across the street with her father to another department store, where she chose a pair of pants at random and slipped into an open changing room. Her idea had always been to use this store to try on her Zara purchases and then send her father back to Zara to return what she didn’t want. “My poor father,” Hearden, a Boston College student, said in an interview. “Everywhere we go, we make him wait in lines.” Hearden’s story highlights a larger issue that apparel makers have been battling with for years, but one that was brought to light much more vividly during the pandemic. Last spring, retailers ranging from Gap to Lululemon to American Eagle had to close their doors to customers for several weeks. Even as clothes stores reopened, many companies chose to keep fitting rooms locked in order to prevent Covid from spreading. In some locations of the United States, some of them, such as Zara’s, are still closed. Consumers face a number of problems, which are quite obvious: Because you can’t try things on in stores, you might as well stock up on multiple sizes, as Hearden did, to see what works at home later. When shopping for clothes or shoes online, people often use a similar strategy: they’ll buy a dress in two or even three sizes, which has been increasingly common during the health crisis. This cascade of events causes return rates to soar for firms. And there’s a price to pay for that. With the Covid pandemic serving as a wake-up call, stores, notably the country’s largest, Walmart, are scrambling to find solutions to the fitting-room conundrum. According to a research by the National Retail Federation, consumers returned $428 billion in items last year, accounting for nearly 10.6% of total retail sales in the United States. Clothing accounted for approximately 12.2 percent of total, according to the NRF, with the average shop incurring $106 million in goods returns for every $1 billion in sales. Justine E., a healthy-recipe blogger who goes by the handle “@justine snacks” on Instagram, recently used the platform to express her dissatisfaction with Zara. “The dressing rooms are closed, so you know you’ll have to return SOMETHING,” she wrote. “But when you return that thing, you’ll [probably] buy something else, and then you’ll be locked in the ‘Zara loop.'” Zara did not react to CNBC’s request for comment right away. Coresight Research reported that 42.4 percent of 401 U.S. buyers returned unwanted purchases between March 2020 and March 2021, with apparel being the largest returned product category, almost double the rate of electronics. “Bought only to try on” was placed No. 7 among the top 10 reasons for returns identified by Coresight in its survey. The higher return rates in the apparel category, according to Coresight Founder and CEO Deborah Weinswig, are likely being worsened by the fact that many customers bought for garments online for the first time last year. Consumers who used to go to the mall had little choice but to use the internet instead. According to Coresight data, internet sales of clothes and footwear increased 27.2 percent to $121.5 billion in 2020. “High levels of returns eat into a product’s profitability,” Weinswig explained. “Return rates in garments are also driven by size, fit, and color not meeting buyer expectations.” Smaller start-ups that have been working on technology for years to solve this problem are now being sought by retailers. Users can get style recommendations based on their sizes using 3DLOOK’s virtual fitting room technology. 3DLOOK is the source of this information. 3DLook, a mobile body-measurement technology company, has unveiled “YourFit,” a new platform it wants to sell to more garment stores. It allows customers to try on items virtually and provides sizing recommendations based on user data. In a virtual experience online or on a smartphone, the technology seeks to show customers exactly how the clothing will look on them. In an interview, 3DLook co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer Whitney Cathcart remarked, “Promoting people to scan themselves… there’s obviously a lot of education involved with it.” “It’s a new technology. Consumers are accustomed to taking quizzes, and our goal from the start was to require as little information from them as possible in order to provide this incredibly rich fit experience.” About two years ago, 1822 Denim was one of the first brands to use 3DLook’s technology. Since partnering with 3DLook, 1822 Denim’s return rates have reduced by around 48 percent, while average order values have increased by roughly 23 percent, according to Tanya Zrebiec, vice president of innovation and strategy. Customers are also completing purchases rather than abandoning shopping carts online or leaving establishments empty-handed, according to her. In an interview, Zrebiec remarked, “There have been so many concerns with sizing, and the fashion industry telling the consumer what she should wear, what it should look like, and what size she should be.” “Most fashion houses never consider what their customers actually look like.” She claims that since implementing the technology, 1822 has had a much better handle on inventory. It keeps a database of client sizes, so it knows what they’ll be looking for. “It’s difficult to have every product size for every consumer,” Zrebiec explained. “So this also helps us a lot with inventory management — and truly understanding who our consumer is, what her sizing is, and how we can obtain the proper goods and avoid overages and squandered inventories.” Walmart, which announced in May that it would be acquiring the Israeli start-up Zeekit in order to better cater to customers shopping for garments on its website, has given virtual fitting-room technology one of the strongest votes of confidence. The deal’s terms were not disclosed. Walmart is acquiring Zeekit, a virtual fitting room start-up with technology that allows buyers to submit a photo, try on clothing online, and get feedback from a friend. Walmart is the source of this information. Customers will be able to upload images of themselves or choose from a variety of models that represent their height, shape, and skin tone once Zeekit’s technology is integrated into Walmart’s website. After that, the site will show you how your clothes will fit. Users can also share their virtual ensembles with their friends for feedback. According to Zeekit, its virtual fitting rooms reduced return rates by 36%. Its prior clients include Macy’s department store and Adidas, a footwear manufacturer. “Virtual try-on is a game changer,” said Denise Incandela, Walmart’s executive vice president of apparel and private brands in the United States. “It solves what has historically been one of the most difficult things to replicate online — understanding fit and how an item will actually look on you.” The beauty sector was the most extensively embraced virtual try-on experience before people started utilizing augmented reality apps to try on garments. Late last year, Google developed an augmented reality cosmetic try-on tool to assist firms such as L’Oreal, MAC Cosmetics, and Charlotte Tilbury. Experts believe it’s much easier to reproduce lip balms and eye shadows on a face in a mirror than it is to find the correct fit for a full outfit. Facebook is developing ways to use augmented reality to visually try on products like apparel, even while they’re displayed in an advertisement. This could be one of the initiatives that helps to mainstream the experience. It would come after Snap’s acquisition of Fit Analytics, a size technology business, in March. Amazon has dabbled in virtual fitting-room technologies, but nothing has taken traction since it dethroned Walmart to become the country’s largest clothes store. It appears to be more concerned with making technology work in the house. Customers can use the website’s “View in Your Room” function to build a place using augmented reality capabilities. Following Walmart’s move, Amazon may be aiming to increase its stakes in the fashion industry. Even so, some customers will almost certainly prefer to visit a real dressing room. When it comes to using virtual fitting rooms for herself, Hearden says, “I’d be skeptical.” “I still enjoy trying things on.”/n
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